RUTGERS (1-2, 0-1) at No. 20 MICHIGAN (2-1, 0-1)
September 28, 2019 • 12:01 p.m. ET • Big Ten Network
Michigan Stadium • Ann Arbor, Mich.
PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers football travels to Ann Arbor this weekend to face the 20
th-ranked Wolverines inside Michigan Stadium. Game time on Saturday is set for noon. It will be the Scarlet Knights' second road game of the season against a ranked opponent.
Big Ten Network starts its coverage on site at 10 a.m. with
BTN Tailgate, hosted by Dave Revsine, Gerry DiNardo, Howard Griffith and Michelle McMahon. Kevin Kulger (play-by-play), Matt Millen (analyst) and Lisa Byington (reporter) have the game broadcast.
Listen to the action on the Rutgers Sports Network (WCTC 1450-AM, WOR 710-AM, WENJ 97.3-FM, WNJE 920-AM, Sirius 211, XM 201) with Chris Carlin (play-by-play), Ray Lucas (analyst) and Anthony Fucilli (sideline) on the call. The broadcast is also available via ScarletKnights.com, the Scarlet Knights App and TuneIn. The WRSU 88.7-FM student radio broadcast will have Troy DeSavino and Justin Sontupe.
Rutgers continues its support of Coach to Cure MD. The national game day charity project, led by the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), aims to raise awareness and money to fund research for Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Now in its 11th year, the program has raised over $2.1 million. To make a donation, visit CoachToCureMD.org or text the word "CURE" to 501501 to make a $25 donation.
Rutgers has played the most games in college football history (1,352), while Michigan is third (1,334) behind Navy (1,338). The 2019 season marks the 150
th anniversary of the first college football game, which took place between Rutgers and Princeton on Nov. 6, 1869. The historic contest took place on a plot of ground where the present-day Rutgers gymnasium now stands in New Brunswick. RU won that first game, 6-4.
The Scarlet Knights are set for their first of six divisional games inside the Big Ten East this season. RU previously dropped its Big Ten opener at then-No. 20 Iowa on Sept. 7. Saturday will mark the 17
th contest against a ranked conference opponent since joining the Big Ten in 2014.
Most recently, Rutgers hosted former Big East foe Boston College in the first meeting between the programs since 2004. Junior
Justin Davidovicz connected on a field goal in the second quarter to give the Scarlet Knights a 10-7 lead, but the Eagles answered to win, 30-16. Sophomore
Artur Sitkowski went 23-for-33 for a career-high 304 passing yards in his first start at quarterback this year, connecting with seven difference receivers. Junior
Raheem Blackshear totaled 130 receiving yards on nine receptions, including a 74-yard score in the first quarter.
Blackshear leads all running backs nationally with 80 receiving yards and 7.3 receptions per game. He now has three career games with 100 or more receiving yards, three games with 100 or more rushing yards, six receiving touchdowns and six rushing touchdowns. Additionally on the ground, sophomore
Isaih Pacheco ranks fifth in the Big Ten through four weeks with 79.7 rushing yards per game and ninth with 5.2 yards per carry.
Junior
Bo Melton is averaging 20.7 yards per reception, fifth in the Big Ten, on the outside with 8-of-9 catches going for either a first down or a touchdown.
Rutgers has limited negative-yardage plays on offense, placing first in the Big Ten and third nationally with only 2.67 tackles-per-loss surrendered per game. In addition, the team leads the conference and sits seventh nationally with just 0.67 sacks permitted per game. RU's 18 sacks allowed since the start of the 2018 season are the fewest among Big Ten teams.
Defensively, junior
Tyshon Fogg is coming off a career-high 15 tackles to move up to 12
th in the country at 11 stops per game. He has made 29-of-33 tackles against the run. Both junior
Tyreek Maddox-Williams and fifth-year senior
Willington Previlon own two tackles-for-loss. Senior
Damon Hayes paces the secondary with 24 career passes defended.
Davidovicz finished 3-for-3 on field goals last week, including a 50-yarder, to improve to 5-for-5 on the season and 14-for-16 career. Junior
Adam Korsak added five more punts inside the 20-yard line in as many tries against Boston College to make it 12-for-16 in 2019. He was named to the Ray Guy Award weekly "Ray's 8 list" for the second time this season for the performance. The Australian has helped Rutgers to a net punt of 44.63 yards per attempt to rank first in the conference and eighth in the country.
The Wolverines won home games over Middle Tennessee and Army to start the season, but fell on the road at then-No. 13 Wisconsin, 35-14, last Saturday. Quarterback Shea Patterson is 50-for-90 passing for 629 yards and five touchdowns, while Zach Charbonnet has rushed for three scores. Khaleke Hudson is ninth nationally at 11.3 tackles per game.
Jim Harbaugh is in his fifth season leading the program.
Michigan has won the last four meetings in the series after Rutgers won the inaugural contest in 2014, 26-24. That was the Scarlet Knights' first conference win as a member of the Big Ten. Saturday will be RU's third trip to Michigan Stadium, as the 2017 matchup in Ann Arbor had an attendance of 111,213 to signal the largest crowd to ever witness a Rutgers football game.
Last season in Piscataway, the game was tied at seven after a quarter, but the fourth-ranked Wolverines scored the last five touchdowns in a 42-7 win. Rutgers posted 193 rushing yards with an average of 5.8 yards per carry against a defense that entered the week leading the nation in total defense. Pacheco finished with a season-high 142 rushing yards in the game, third-most in a game for a Scarlet Knight against a ranked opponent. That was highlighted by an 80-yard touchdown run. The Scarlet Knights also recorded its longest passing play in a Big Ten game against Michigan, an 80-yard pass from Gary Nova to Andrew Turzilli in 2014.
Rutgers will host Maryland in its first Big Ten home game of the season at SHI Stadium on Oct. 5. The game will start at noon on Big Ten Network and is presented by Horizon.
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