When Rutgers has the ball: This is not a game in which the Knights want to find themselves settling for field goals when they reach the red zone -- a problem that has plagued this offense all season. With quarterback Mike Teel healthy, having benefited from some time off, and given how mediocre Louisville's defense has been, that shouldn't be the case. Here are some of the Cards' defensive numbers that should have Teel, Ray Rice and wide receivers Tiquan Underwood and Kenny Britt in major stat-padding mode: No. 74 nationally against the run, No. 88 against the pass, No. 85 overall and No. 87 in scoring defense. Because of Teel's thumb injury, Rutgers hasn't been able to strike the offensive balance it wants and needs since beating South Florida five games ago. The Knights hit a low during a 219-yard performance against Pittsburgh last game, and while the offense did go for 511 yards at Connecticut, the unit managed just one touchdown. Rice should be happy to face a defense that has allowed a 100-yard rusher in seven of the 11 games so far, including the past four. He needs 173 yards to break the single-season school record he set last year. He's also the best option for keeping Louisville QB Brian Brohm off the field. Underwood and Britt each have a chance to hit the 1,000-yard receiving mark for the season this game if Rutgers turns to its passing game more.
When Louisville has the ball: It's pretty obvious what the Cardinals want to do in a season that ends for them with this game, win or lose. They want to run a little and throw a lot. It makes plenty of sense given that their leading rusher, Anthony Allen, averages just 61.3 yards per game while QB Brian Brohm, a likely top 15 pick in the next NFL Draft, needs 213 yards to reach 4,000 for the season. Brohm, despite the team meltdown around him, has had a solid year, completing 65.6 percent of his passes with a 29 to 12 touchdown-to-interception ratio while directing a passing game that is ranked No. 4 nationally. Rutgers found a way to shut out Brohm and Louisville's high-powered offense in the second half of last year's 28-25 victory after giving up all 25 points in the opening half. One way is through pressure, although the Cards have yielded just 19 sacks in 469 pass attempts. Keeping dangerous wideout Harry Douglas in check is the challenge for Rutgers secondary, with the senior leading the Big East in receptions and yardage despite missing two games to injury. The Knights have to be concerned with two other matchup problems: Tight end Gary Barnidge has 48 catches for 590 yards and 6-6 wide receiver Mario Urrutia, a tantalizing talent who has been maddeningly inconsistent, has 35 catches. The Cards average 35.8 ppg but are turnover prone (23 so far).
Special teams: Louisville rates a slight edge on special teams because it features the Big East's top kickoff coverage unit and usually-reliable placekicker Art Carmody, last year's Lou Groza winner. Carmody has had a decent year, but hasn't been called upon to do as much as he did last fall. Louisville also has a solid kickoff returner in Guy Trent. Rutgers' kick and return games continue to be mediocre, with Jeremy Ito last in the league in punting average. Ito is the career scoring leader in Big East and Rutgers history, but has missed seven field-goal attempts this season. It was Ito who delivered the game-winner with his 28-yard field goal with 13 seconds left in Rutgers' 28-25 victory over Louisville last year -- with the Cards' JuJuan Spellman returning a kickoff 100 yards for a score in the game.
Four Downs
Center Ryan Blaszczyk
Q. How have you held up physically starting all 11 games -- after not playing at all the previous two seasons?
A. Eleven games in, you get the normal bumps and bruises. Everyone is nicked up to make all 11. But I feel pretty good right now. I've done pretty well -- knock on wood -- keeping my body healthy. Q. How has the transition been, since you and Anthony Davis are the two new line starters?
A. I just try to be the best I can be every day. We're playing this season for (seniors) Mike Fladell, Pedro Sosa and Jeremy Zuttah. Anthony and I know our time will come, so we're just trying to be the best we can be to help them go out with a successful senior year.
Q. Has anything surprised you this season?
A. It's probably just the excitement of being on the field in front of all of our fans and being on TV. You have people, family and friends, call you up after the games, saying they saw you. You don't really get a sense of that when you're not playing.
Q. Has there been any adjustment to snapping for two quarterbacks (Mike Teel and Jabu Lovelace) with different styles -- sometimes directly, sometimes in the shotgun?
A. Not really. We work on that. All off-season we work on shotgun snaps. So that hasn't been a problem. As a center, you would like to have zero bad snaps and zero penalties. I don't think we've had a bad snap and I think I've had two holding penalties this year. So I feel pretty good about that.
History
Rutgers holds a 5-1 lead in a series that began in 1976, with the teams splitting their meetings as members of the Big East. Louisville routed Rutgers, 56-5, at home in 2005, with the Knights upsetting the No. 3-ranked Cardinals at Rutgers Stadium last Nov. 9 with a 28-25 victory.
One more thing ...
Before anyone at Rutgers complains about being relegated to the second-year International Bowl on Jan. 5 in Toronto, don't the Knights need to build a better case with the school's first November Big East road victory since 1995? At 7-5, which is what Rutgers would be with a loss tonight, the Knights should be grateful for any bowl. At 8-4, they would have a legitimate claim to being shortchanged in the postseason for the second straight year. A 23-20 victory at Temple in 1995 is the last time Rutgers won a November Big East road game. The Knights have lost 13 straight since.
When Louisville has the ball: It's pretty obvious what the Cardinals want to do in a season that ends for them with this game, win or lose. They want to run a little and throw a lot. It makes plenty of sense given that their leading rusher, Anthony Allen, averages just 61.3 yards per game while QB Brian Brohm, a likely top 15 pick in the next NFL Draft, needs 213 yards to reach 4,000 for the season. Brohm, despite the team meltdown around him, has had a solid year, completing 65.6 percent of his passes with a 29 to 12 touchdown-to-interception ratio while directing a passing game that is ranked No. 4 nationally. Rutgers found a way to shut out Brohm and Louisville's high-powered offense in the second half of last year's 28-25 victory after giving up all 25 points in the opening half. One way is through pressure, although the Cards have yielded just 19 sacks in 469 pass attempts. Keeping dangerous wideout Harry Douglas in check is the challenge for Rutgers secondary, with the senior leading the Big East in receptions and yardage despite missing two games to injury. The Knights have to be concerned with two other matchup problems: Tight end Gary Barnidge has 48 catches for 590 yards and 6-6 wide receiver Mario Urrutia, a tantalizing talent who has been maddeningly inconsistent, has 35 catches. The Cards average 35.8 ppg but are turnover prone (23 so far).
Special teams: Louisville rates a slight edge on special teams because it features the Big East's top kickoff coverage unit and usually-reliable placekicker Art Carmody, last year's Lou Groza winner. Carmody has had a decent year, but hasn't been called upon to do as much as he did last fall. Louisville also has a solid kickoff returner in Guy Trent. Rutgers' kick and return games continue to be mediocre, with Jeremy Ito last in the league in punting average. Ito is the career scoring leader in Big East and Rutgers history, but has missed seven field-goal attempts this season. It was Ito who delivered the game-winner with his 28-yard field goal with 13 seconds left in Rutgers' 28-25 victory over Louisville last year -- with the Cards' JuJuan Spellman returning a kickoff 100 yards for a score in the game.
Four Downs
Center Ryan Blaszczyk
Q. How have you held up physically starting all 11 games -- after not playing at all the previous two seasons?
A. Eleven games in, you get the normal bumps and bruises. Everyone is nicked up to make all 11. But I feel pretty good right now. I've done pretty well -- knock on wood -- keeping my body healthy. Q. How has the transition been, since you and Anthony Davis are the two new line starters?
A. I just try to be the best I can be every day. We're playing this season for (seniors) Mike Fladell, Pedro Sosa and Jeremy Zuttah. Anthony and I know our time will come, so we're just trying to be the best we can be to help them go out with a successful senior year.
Q. Has anything surprised you this season?
A. It's probably just the excitement of being on the field in front of all of our fans and being on TV. You have people, family and friends, call you up after the games, saying they saw you. You don't really get a sense of that when you're not playing.
Q. Has there been any adjustment to snapping for two quarterbacks (Mike Teel and Jabu Lovelace) with different styles -- sometimes directly, sometimes in the shotgun?
A. Not really. We work on that. All off-season we work on shotgun snaps. So that hasn't been a problem. As a center, you would like to have zero bad snaps and zero penalties. I don't think we've had a bad snap and I think I've had two holding penalties this year. So I feel pretty good about that.
History
Rutgers holds a 5-1 lead in a series that began in 1976, with the teams splitting their meetings as members of the Big East. Louisville routed Rutgers, 56-5, at home in 2005, with the Knights upsetting the No. 3-ranked Cardinals at Rutgers Stadium last Nov. 9 with a 28-25 victory.
One more thing ...
Before anyone at Rutgers complains about being relegated to the second-year International Bowl on Jan. 5 in Toronto, don't the Knights need to build a better case with the school's first November Big East road victory since 1995? At 7-5, which is what Rutgers would be with a loss tonight, the Knights should be grateful for any bowl. At 8-4, they would have a legitimate claim to being shortchanged in the postseason for the second straight year. A 23-20 victory at Temple in 1995 is the last time Rutgers won a November Big East road game. The Knights have lost 13 straight since.
