Staff Picks: Michigan At Rutgers
Michigan is sitting at 1-3 with three bad losses and is in desperate need of a win. Michigan has a good chance to get that win as it takes on Rutgers later today, but as we've seen, nothing is guaranteed with this team.
The Wolverines are favored by 10.5 in Piscataway, but the Wolverines are 1-2 as the favorite this season. Michigan should beat the Scarlet Knights, but I've said that and been wrong this year. Can the Wolverines get off the schneid?
We discuss...
Christopher Breiler
Michigan will win but it won't look pretty. They'll still continue to give up big plays when they shouldn't, likely hand Rutgers 40+ yards in PI calls alone and struggle to find any semblance of an offensive identity.
I love Michigan Football, but this team is extremely painful to watch right now.
Michigan 27, Rutgers 13
Brandon Brown
I said I wouldn't be fooled again, but here I am. I simply cannot and will not pick the Scarlet Knights to beat Michigan. I can't do it.
Michigan is so much more talented than Rutgers at every position on the field and literally should not be able to lose this game. When you compare the recruiting efforts of both programs over the last four or five years, it's not a fair fight on paper.
I don't think it matters who starts at quarterback, who's out for the Wolverines or how inept the coaching staff appears to be this week. Michigan simply cannot lose this game. If they do, Jim Harbaugh should literally be fired as soon as he and the team get back to Ann Arbor.
Michigan 34, Rutgers 17
Matthew Lounsberry
This needs to be a “get-right” game for the Wolverines. A win today won’t do anything to appease the fan base, local media or national pundits, but what matters is the mindset in that locker room. Michigan’s players and coaching staff need a victory. They need positive energy. A loss to Rutgers would be another blow to the psyche of this team.
Michigan 34, Rutgers 23
Jake Sage
Michigan is struggling, and Rutgers is as good as they have been since 2014 when the Wolverines lost to them 26-24. Still, the Scarlet Knights have won just one Big Ten game in the last three seasons and Michigan has more talent everywhere on the field. Greg Schiano will certainly have his players fired up for this contest and likely will pull out some trickery in the game. However, it won’t be enough, as Michigan is simply better no matter how bad they have looked the last three weeks. Rutgers is also coming off a loss against Illinois, who did not even have their starting quarterback. Schiano has the Rutgers program heading in the right direction, while Harbaugh has the opposite, yet the talent gap between the two teams will be too much for the Scarlet Knights to overcome no matter who Michigan starts at quarterback. If the Wolverines somehow lose this game, there is simply no way to justify Harbaugh wearing the Block M next season. If last weekend wasn’t the final straw, a loss today will be.
Michigan 27, Rutgers 21
