Rutgers Louisville Line

Written by Steve Janus

The Rutgers Scarlet Knight will try to improve to 3-0 inside the Big East when they go on the road to take on the struggling Louisville Cardinals this Friday. The Scarlet Knights rallied late to beat Navy 21-20 this past Saturday. At 5-1 overall, Rutgers has already passed their season total of four wins from 2010. The Cardinals come in off a 16-25 loss at Cincinnati. It was their third third straight loss, pushing their overall record to just 2-4.

Taking a look at the week 8 college football spreads, oddsmakers currently have Louisville favored by 2-points over Rutgers.

Rutgers Scarlet Knights:

The Scarlet Knights have relied on their defense and special teams all season, and they came through with another huge performance in the win over Navy. Sophomore Brandon Jones blocked a 34-yard field goal with less than 5 minutes to play, preserving the Scarlet Knights fourth consecutive win.

It looks as though head coach Greg Schiano is going to stick with true freshman quarterback Gary Nova as his starter. Nova replaced sophomore Chas Dodd in the Scarlet Knights come-from-behind win over Syracuse, and looks to have won the job for good. Nova had two costly interceptions in the win over Navy, but also threw for 271 yards and two touchdowns.

The Scarlet Knights also had some rare success running the ball, totaling 152 yards on the ground. Sophomore Jawan Jamison led the way with 101 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries. It was just the third time this season Rutgers rushed for over a 100 yards as a team.

While Louisville is just 2-4 on the season, they have played well defensively. They are 20th in the nation allowing just 100.7 ypg on the ground, which means the offense will likely need another strong performance from Nova.

Louisville Cardinals:

The Cardinals have really struggled to get anything going offensively in 2011. They come in averaging just 16.3 ppg. The offense has been even worse of late, averaging just 12.0 ppg during their three game losing streak.

Louisville has also had a change of scenery at the quarterback position. Will Stein opened the season as the starter i the first two games, but have since went to true freshman Teddy Bridgewater. Last week, Bridgewater completed 17 of 28 for 195 yards, but finished with no touchdowns and an interception. Bridgewater has completed over 64% of his attempts over the last three games, but has just two touchdowns to four interceptions during that stretch.

The Cardinals have also had trouble getting much going in the running game. They managed just 70 yards on 33 attempts against Cincinnati. If you throw out their two games against Murray State and Kentucky, Louisville is averaging just 78.3 ypg on the ground.

With the way the offense has struggled to start the season, it’s hard to expect a big game against a Rutgers defense that ranks 16th in the country giving up just 300 yards of total offense a game. The big key for Louisville will be taking care of the football against a Scarlet Knight defense that has forced 24 turnovers in six games.

Betting Trends:

Rutgers is 21-8-2 ATS in their last 31 games as a road underdog.

Louisville is 5-2 ATS in their last 7 games as a home favorite of 0.5-3.0.

Steve Janus delivered another winning week in college football. The expert handicapper is 23-7 over his last 30 college picks, and ready to help you make a profit in week 8.

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