Week 7 Preview: Indiana Hoosiers vs. Rutgers Scarlet Knights

Who, When, Where: Indiana returns home to welcome Rutgers to Memorial Stadium this Saturday at 3:30pm. The game will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network, with Eric Collins and Glen Mason on the call, and Jeremiah Johnson on the sidelines. This is the 103rd Homecoming for Indiana, who holds a somewhat disappointing 44-52-6 record in their Homecoming games. Saturday's game also marks the 2nd time Indiana and Rutgers have ever played football. Depending on how Nate Sudfeld is feeling on Saturday, it might mark the first time Indiana has played Rutgers with their season-opening starting quarterback.

Numbers of Note: 14, the number of quarters Indiana had gone without turning the ball over until an interception against Penn State last Saturday. 7, the season sack total of team leader Nick Mangieri. Though he is unlikely to challenge IU's season record of 16, he could break into the top 5 with 3 or more sacks before the end of the season. 4 of 5, Griffin Oakes' career onside kick attempts, including a successful recovery by Dawson Fletcher against Penn State.

Rutgers Ruminations, courtesy of OTE's Ray Ransom: On the field, Indiana and Rutgers seem to be facing similar situations. Both have had fairly devastating personnel losses; Indiana on offense, Rutgers on defense. Both came in with high expectations, some of which have been met, some not. Both got shellacked by Penn State. Both took top-4 teams down to the wire. Both are probably looking at this game as one of the last opportunities to notch a win before diving into the meat of the conference schedule.

I think the big difference has been Indiana's ability to close out tight games. I count 3 single-score victories for IU, while Rutgers has lost 2 games by a single score margin. Does that portend well for the maroons? Can the Knights take advantage of some seriously unlucky quarterbacks?

Notable Alums and Fun Facts about Rutgers: There may be other lists of these, but the list that I feel encompasses these best can be found in last year's article.

Predictions:

Ray) All I know is that this game should be a wild one. Nobody is likely to play much defense, while two offenses that can put up points in a hurry should unleash the fireworks. I've got Rutgers by a score after a wild affair.

C4B) I fear this game may bear some resemblance to last year's game against Rutgers. If Danny Cameron starts at QB, and whoever may be our starting running back doesn't become Tevin Coleman for a day, this will probably be a long day for the Hoosiers. If, on the other hand, we have our starting QB and at least one of our top two running backs back, this game might be worth watching. If things go well for IU, I think the Hoosiers win 38-31. If things don't go well, I don't really want to think about what the final score might end up being.

Next Week: We attempt to reclaim Ol' Brassy from Spartan Stadium.