PAPAJOHNS.COM BOWL Preview

Rutgers will be taking on North Carolina State today at 3pm on ESPN. Rutgers started out the season 1-5, but got on a six game winning streak to end up 7-5. During there six game winning streak Rutgers played great offense and defense. The Scarlet Knights were averaging 40 points a game on offense, and were allowing 15 points a game on defense. Rutgers finished the regular season with a dominating performance against Louisville beating them 63-14. North Carolina State was 2-6 during the season and ended up going on a 4 game winning streak beating two ranked teams. North Carolina State beat Wake Forest in a close game 21-17, and then destroyed North Carolina 41-10. They ended the season with a 38-38 win over Miami FL. They faced three bowl teams and beat them. During there four game winning streak the wolf pack averaged 32 points on offense and allowed 18 points per game. This should be a good game to watch.

Leading the way for the Scarlet Knights is Senior Quarterback Mike Teel, who had 3,099 passing yards with 23 passing touchdowns. At the wide receiver positions are Kenny Britt, and Tiquan Underwood. Britt had 1,252 receiving yards with 6 receiving touchdowns. Underwood had 443 receiving yards and had 4 receiving touchdowns. The key thing for Rutgers in this game is to stop the pass on defense and score points on offense. They need to force pressure on defense and make North Carolina State run the ball. Mike Teel needs to play good in his last game.

The Wolf Pack leader is Quarterback Russell Wilson. Wilson threw for 1,769 yards with 16 touchdown passes. Andre Brown is their halfback who will need to get loose for NC State. Brown had 164 carries for 728 yards with 6 rushing touchdowns. The key thing for the Wolf Pack in this game is to stop the passing game and make Rutgers run the ball. Rutgers is ranked 21st in passing, but is ranked 82 in rushing. So you can see that Rutgers isn't a good running team. They need to force turnovers and get there offense in good field position. If North Carolina State can score points on offense then it will put more pressure on Rutgers to score.

My Pick- Rutgers 31-21
Flippy's Pick- Rutgers 37-20

Player 2 Watch

My Pick- Rutgers defense
Flippy's Pick- WR Kenny Britt