BIG EAST FOOTBALL PREVIEW: GAME #8 RUTGERS

October 24, 2008


The Rutgers Scarlet Knights finalled cracked the win acolumn against a Division 1-A opponent last weekend witn a 12-10 upset win over UConn at home. Now they will go for two in a row when they travel to meet Pittsburgh, a team they have had some good luck with of late.

The Panthers continued their impressive run by blitzing through Navy last weekend for a 42-21 win. The victory was the Panthers' 5th in a row after a season opening loss to Bowling Green.

While Walt Harris had little trouble versus Rutgers, Dave Wannstedt has not had similar luck against the Scarlet Knights. Pitt is 0-3 against RU since Wannstedt took over and will look to ride star running back LeSean McCoy to a win to break that streak.

The oddsmakers certainly believe in Pitt as current NCAA Football Lines have the Panthers as a 10 1/2 point favorite.

Pittsburgh is pretty much middle of the road in most offensive categories, but the play of McCoy has liften them in recent weeks. The sophomore running back has gained 447 yards in the last three games, runnign for an average of 6 yards a carry on 76 attempts. All three games resulted in road wins for Pitt.

Rutgers comes into the game with one of the worst offensives in Divison 1-A and the solid Pitt defense should continue to make life miserable for their guests on Saturday. The graduation of Ray Rice has hit Greg Schiano's club hard and shoddy play at quarterback has exasperated the problem. It has certainly been No Rice = No Dice for RU Football this season.

That said, 10 1/2 points is a lot of points for the Panthers to cover. Rutgers will look to take advantage of some expected poor weather and a slippery Heinz Field turf to keep this game close, but Pitt should be able to earn win #6 in a row.

Prediction:

Pittsburgh 20
Rutgers 12