Rutgers has been picked to finish third in the Big East this year

We're only about a month off of some college football kids, and Johnny for one is waaaay excited. After being picked to finish eighth last year in the Big East and still having a chance to tie for the league title in their last game, this year the Scarlet Knights are tabbed third in the Big East behind Louisville and USF.

The Rutgers 11 has a big hole to fill not just at wide receiver where Mohamed Sanu is gone but hey, Rutgers has a new head coach after Greg Schiano snuck off to the NFL. Kyle Flood will lead the Knights into this season where they open September 1st at Tulane down in the Big Easy.

Rutgers football gameday!

Making the pivot from Rutgers hoops to Rutgers pigskin, the Scarlet Knights play in the Pin Stripe Bowl at 3:30 at Yankee Stadium vs. Iowa State. It what should be considered a good season in Piscataway (good but not great) Greg Schiano's charges can put a nice bow on a nice season with a win over the Cyclones. Iowa State won't be a pushover, having upset Oklahoma State in Ames Iowa this season, but Rutgers should still roll today.

A few questions now arise here at the end of the 2011 season. Will QB Tom Savage rejoin the team next season? Will Mohamed Sanu return? Sanu was a unanimous first-team Big East selection after setting a school and conference record with 109 receptions. He had 1,144 yards and seven touchdowns, both second-most in the league. He'd be horribly missed.

So, Rutgers returns to the bowl world after a disappointing 4-8 campaign last season. Here's hoping they can beat a battle tested Cyclones team over at the house Jeter built.

Fearless Forecast:
Rutgers 27
Iowa State 20

Rutgers football gameday!

Running. Ground game. Pound. 3 yards and a cloud of dust.

Get ready for it today in Piscataway. Rutgers is going to run. Navy pretty much does nothing BUT run. It's awful windy today here in the Garden State. Even more running. Rutgers has a freshman QB which will most likely mean, you guessed it, more running.

Rutgers kicks off today at 2 pm in Piscataway in a non-Big East game that should give Greg Schiano some time to work on a few things before heading into conference play the rest of the way. The Scarlet Knights come into play today with a 4-1 record while the Naval Academy sports a 2-3 ledger.

Rutgers must without doubt stop the Navy ground attack. It's that crazy triple option that can hurt you in a few ways. If the Midshipmen have success running early it will only fuel that attack. It seems when this style of offense is on it's unstoppable, when it's stopped up it can last the whole afternoon long.

Freshman Rutgers QB Gary Nova has had quite a time so far this season. Making pretty good decisions and posting very high QB ratings. They will need him to be sharp today especially is passing become more that a flight of fancy. We'd just as soon throw bubble screens to Mohamed Sanu all day and call THAT the passing attack. Long handoffs if you will. On a windy day trying to get to 5-1 why take chances?

Fearless forecast
Rutgers 31
Navy 21

Rutgers football gameday!

The patsie part of the Rutgers football schedule kicks in today with lightly regarded Howard coming to Piscataway. The game should be a great chance for the Scarlet Knights to regain some confidence, work out some kinks (especially defensively) and get back to level with their record. We can only hope that Coach Greg Schiano stays with freshman Tom Savage who gave a good accounting of himself Monday. He'll need some games like today against Howard and next week vs Florida International to warm up for tougher foes down the road.

Expect a big dose of running back Joe Martinek. We'd also like to see more of receiver Mohamed Sanu who looked so good on Labor Day.

We won't waste a lot of ink on this game, it should be a blowout. We'd certainly have more to say tonight if this is a close one or heaven forbid Rutgers blows this.

Our prediction:
Rutgers 44
Howard 7