2020-21 Season Preview: Rutgers Scarlet Knights
By: Dakota Isgrigg | July 14th | @dakota_isgrigg | @BoilerInTexas
We are officially on the countdown to the 2020-21 Purdue football season! [Even though there are still a lot of details to be figured out because of the COVID-19 pandemic, it seems as though the precautions taken in early 2020 will allow us to have college football in some form or fashion.] Even though the American public failed to heed the warnings of scientists/professionals, as of now, football is still going to happen. Even though as of July 9th the Big Ten announced that because of the resurgence in COVID-19 cases in the US, the Big Ten will have a conference game only football schedule, for now. So we here at Boiler In Texas will continue as if the season will be taking place and Purdue will be suiting up this fall, regardless of the actions of some Americans. So over the weeks leading up to the presumptive start to the season, we will be going week by week and taking a look at the season for our Boilermakers and their opponents every week.
Purdue 2020 Football Schedule:
9/5: @Nebraska
9/12: Memphis - Cancelled
9/19: Air Force - Cancelled
9/26: @Boston College - Cancelled
10/10: Rutgers
10/17: @Illinois
10/24: @Michigan
10/31: Northwestern
11/7: @Minnesota
11/14: Wisconsin
11/21: Iowa
11/28: @Indiana
The announcement that the Big Ten would be moving to a conference only football schedule couldn’t have come at a better time as we had just wrapped up the non-conference slate in our series previews (-.-). Regardless, as of right now it seems as though the powers that be are doing what they can to ensure that we fans will get some sort of college football this fall. So as of right now there are not set number of games to be played but until that happens, I will assume that each team will just be playing their already scheduled conference games.
This isn’t Purdue’s first conference game of the year since they visit Nebraska to open the season, but Rutgers will be the first home conference game of the season and therefore just as exciting. It will be the Scarlet Knights’ first trip to West Lafayette ever, as well as just their second meeting ever. Their first match up came back in 2017 in Jeff Brohm’s first season as the head man of the Boilermakers. That was a game we don’t need to discuss because Purdue was so dominant in that game but still somehow lost 14-12 in ugly fashion. Since that game, Rutgers has gone 1-22 in conference play and has since made a coaching change that has many Rutgers fans excited. They decide to bring back Greg Schiano to try and once again revive a moribund program.
Rutgers 2020-21 Football Schedule
9/4: Monmouth - Cancelled
9/12: Syracuse - Cancelled
9/19: @Temple - Cancelled
9/26: @Ohio State
10/3: Illinois
10/10: @Purdue
10/17: Indiana
10/24: Nebraska
10/31: @Maryland
11/14: Michigan
11/21: @Michigan State
11/28: Penn State
We don’t have to go in to too much detail regarding Rutgers and their previous endeavors. Last season they finished 2-10 (0-9 B1G East). Another interesting statistic is that if they lost their first two conference games of 2020, they would visit Purdue on an active 23-game conference losing streak. This is truly indicative of just how bad this Rutgers program has been over the last few seasons. So what do the Scarlet Knights bring to the table in 2020 with new head man Greg Shiano?
Rutgers Offense
To put it nicely, the Rutgers offense wasn’t the worst last season when it came to scoring points. That honor goes to Akron being the only team to average less points per game than Rutgers. That’s right, Rutgers finished in 129th out of 130 FBS teams averaging only 13.3 points-per-game last season. In the conference slate as a whole they only scored a total of 51 points across their 9 conference games (21 of which came in the Ohio State game). Breaking it down even further, the Scarlet Knights averaged 139 yards per game through the air and a slightly better 133 yards per game on the ground.
Quarterback
The quarterback position has been a tough spot for Rutgers the last few years. This season there will be another competition as the incumbent Artur Sitkowski was the man last season and returns, but he struggled to reach 1,500 passing yards total the last two seasons combined. Another guy fighting for the top spot is Johnny Langan who led the team in passing last season with 840 yards and 4 TD’s to go with 391 yards rushing. Lastly there is the Nebraska transfer Noah Vedral who decided to join the Scarlet Knights after deciding to leave Lincoln. It should be an interesting QB battle in Piscataway this fall.
Isaih Pacheco: RB
Pacheco was one of the bright spots of the Rutgers offense last season as eh finished with 729 yards and 7 TD’s on the ground. Unfortunately, it was a lone bright spot for this offense. He will be running behind a rebuilding offensive line that gave up 26 sacks last season and then lost a lot of it’s experienced pieces.
Receiving
They luckily do have some experience returning at the receiver position as well, Bo Melton returns after racking up 30 receptions for 427 yards and 2 TD’s. Isaiah Washington also returns after finishing 2019 with 18 receptions for 272 yards and a touchdown.
There are some interesting pieces returning to the Rutgers offense, primarily centered around the quarterback position. The addition of Nebraska transfer Noah Vedral should add an interesting cog in the competition coming out of camp. Either way, Shiano is going to have his work cut out for him attempting to bring Rutgers out of the pit once again. In the scope of the Purdue game, if the Purdue defense can get pressure on the quarterback and force whoever is lined up under center out of their comfort zone, none of the other offenses pieces from Rutgers worries me too much.
Rutgers Defense
The Rutgers defense is also a problem spot when looking at the numbers. In 2019 the Rutgers defense gave up 36.7 points-per-game and gave up around 430 yards per game. The scoring number landed them at 123rd nationally in scoring, and predictably, last in the Big Ten.
Linebackers
Tyshon Fogg returns as a top performer on the defense for Rutgers after totaling 104 tackles in 2019. He’ll be joined by Olakunle Fatukasi as another solid linebacker who racked up 84 tackles a year ago.
Secondary
The pass defense for the Scarlet Knights only intercepted 6 passes last season, combine that with their four fumbles and that made them -13 in the turnover margin. Rutgers will need more production from the secondary this season if they are going to have a shot this year. Leading the way for the secondary will be Christian Izien and the Ohio State transfer Brendon White.
Defensive Line
The defensive line struggled to reach the quarterback in 2019, that’s a fact that will have to be remedied in 2020 if the Rutgers defense is going to find any modicum of success. Julius Turner is the top returner that Schiano will have to build around. He’ll also have a ton of transfers to sort through as well, Malik Barrow from UCF, Michael Dwumfour from Michigan, and Ireland Burke from Boston College are all guys who could come in and help right away.
In my opinion, the Rutgers defense wasn’t as bad as the offense was in 2019, it was just that the offense was so bad that the defense was constantly on the field. That being said, the defense still has a mountain to climb going forward. They will have their work cut out for them in the Purdue game as they have to chase around Rondale Moore and David Bell, as well as everyone else, and for that I wish them luck.
Rutgers Special Teams
The good news for Rutgers is that punter Adam Korsak returns after a good season averaging 43.8 yards per kick last season. Joining him in the kicking duties is Justin Davidovicz. Davidovicz was a decent kicker from a stats perspective as he finished 2019 going 11-of-15 with a long of 50 yards. Like most kickers he’ll look to be more consistent in 2020. In the return game there is a pair of brothers that Purdue will have to look out for in Avery and Aaron Young who handled most of the return duties and are expected to do the same in 2020.
Game Outlook
I’ll be frank, this game has to be a win this season. With the removal of the non-conference games, Purdue has to take advantage of this game. There isn’t much drama in saying that Greg Schiano did well during his first stint in New Jersey. They went to a bowl game five times in six seasons and had an 11-win season as well. It does seem like Rutgers expects him to repeat his success again now in the Big Ten but with that said, this is a much different Rutgers team that he is taking over. Will he help lift the Scarlet Knights out of the sub-basement of the Big Ten? Perhaps, but it sure won’t be overnight as he has a major rebuild on his shoulders.
Even with all of this talk about how much Rutgers has struggled recently and how Purdue should have a clear talent advantage, we saw a perfect example of how it can go wrong in 2017. Purdue traveled to Rutgers and beat them in most statistical categories, but still lost by two in one of the more frustrating games of the Brohm era at Purdue. If you don’t take the opponent seriously, don’t finish drives, and don’t score points, any team can beat you at the end of the day. Thankfully, the talent level at Purdue has increased and I believe that Jeff Brohm knows that there aren’t any easy games. Purdue is still not at the level of being able to take the day off and still win comfortably. Until this team proves that they can take care of business against teams like Rutgers, we need to approach every game like it’s Ohio State.
Score Prediction
I’ll reiterate, this must be a win for the Boilers. Simple as that. Purdue will have the advantage on offense with their receivers against one of the lower ranked defenses in the league. When Rutgers has the ball, this defense has to stay ultra aggressive and force a group of quarterbacks who haven’t had much success to make high level plays. Guys like George Karlaftis has to feast on the Rutgers offensive line and force the Rutgers quarterback into making mistakes. If the Purdue players approach this game correctly, the Boilermakers should win this game.
Score Prediction: Purdue 38, Rutgers 17
How do you feel about the revenge game against the Scarlet Knights?
As Always, Boiler Up, Hammer Down, Hail Purdue!
