Game Five Preview: Rutgers @ West Virginia

Tyler
Scarlet Surge
Date Posted: 10/3/08

Down to Morgantown we go. West Virginia and Rutgers, baby. This is what we live for. I hate WVU more than any other team in the Big East. Their fans can get obnoxious, although they are very passionate, which I respect, but they can be extremely obnoxious fans as a whole.

I think Rutgers has a great chance this weekend. I think they are going to come ready to play, or they are going to get their clock cleaned. It's going to be a RU victory by a small margin, or an easy blow-out for the Mountaineers. Amongst other things, time of possession is going to play a major role in deciding the outcome of this game. How about this stat? Rutgers lost the T.O.P. battle 31:17 to 28:43 last season. You can not lose the time of poessession battle and beat WVU - it just doesn't happen.

RU had plenty of opportunities to score key touchdowns last year against WVU. From their own 30 yard line to the opponents 30 yard line, they were spot on - but as we've seen many times, in the red zone, we failed to seize opportunities. You can't do that against WVU. They are simply to well coached and too talented to let major chances slip thru your hands.

Our WR and QB play will be huge this week. I expect a huge game from Kenny Britt or Tiquan Underwood. Britt has had a solid year this year, but nothing spectactular. And he didn't even play last week because he was suspended.

Tiquan on the other hand has been a disappointment. I think teams are really keying on him. He's so talented teams are double covering him, and always looking to see where #7 is on the field.

But Rutgers definately has a great chance this week because of the success they had moving the ball last year on the Mountaineers. They didn't cash in on any opportunites, as a matter of fact, they dropped about 5 very very catchable passes, at least 3 of them being for touchdowns...so I think it's safe to say RU stands a chance - whether they'll actually show up and be ready tomorrow, that's another story.

The running attack has looked very solid the past two weeks, but I'm still not sold on it. I wouldn't say Navy is the toughest defense against the run, and Morgan State, was, well...Morgan State. So I'm very interested in seeing whether or not the run game can actually produce against a competent WVU defense.

Defensively, it'll be tough to stop them, no doubt about it. Obviously, you have to like what you saw last week against Morgan State. They gave up no points, which, in at any level, versus any team, that's quite an accomplishment. We will need this same type of level against WVU to compete. The linebackers are going to play a huge role in this game. If they can hold the run game for WVU in check, the Scarlet Knights will have a great chance. RU gave up 254 rushing yards in Piscataway in the '07 matchup against West Va. It can't happen again.

My prediction:
Rutgers 27
West Virginia 23
Game Ball: Damaso Munoz. Yes, I said it. I think Munoz is going to get a good amount of playing time because he has good speed and we will need to rotate our front seven quite often against this rushing attack. I also liked what I saw from him last week as well. I think Munoz finished with 11 tkls, 3 tfl, 1 ff. Big game out of Damaso!

Game Time: 12:00 PM ET
Site: West Virginia University Morgantown, WV
Weather: Partly Cloudy, 60 degrees.

Enjoy the game. Go RU!