Northwestern Wildcats vs Rutgers Scarlet Knights Prediction, 9/3/2023 College Football Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Northwestern Wildcats vs Rutgers Scarlet Knights

Date: Sunday, September 3, 2023

Location: SHI Stadium in Piscataway, NJ

TV: CBS

Odds/Point Spread: Scarlet Knights (-3)

Total/Over-Under: 40.5

SHI Stadium is where the Rutgers Scarlet Knights (4-8 last year) will compete against the Northwestern Wildcats (1-11 last season) on Sunday, September 3, 2023. Northwestern is 3-point underdogs from oddsmakers. The over/under is 40.5.

The Northwestern Wildcats finished the year having earned a 1-11 record. In their last contest, the Wildcats played against the Illinois Fighting Illini and walked away from this one with a loss by a score of 41-3. Cole Freeman connected on 12/22 with 93 yards passing. He had a quarterback rating of 53.7 and walked away from the game with 4 picks. Evan Hull was the leader on the ground for the Wildcats with 20 attempts for 53 yards (2.7 yds per carry). The Northwestern Wildcats ran the football 49 different times and totaled 154 yards, which is an average of 3.1 yds per attempt. Once the final whistle blew, they ran 80 plays for 321 yards. Northwestern conceded 12 completions on 18 attempts for a total of 136 yds, and a completion rate of 66.7%. On the ground, the Wildcats conceded 156 yds on 36 tries, which is an average of 4.3 yds per rush surrendered.

The Wildcats earned 4,025 total yards for last season. Northwestern compiled 10 passing touchdowns and 11 rushing touchdowns. They turned the football over 31 different times. Northwestern accumulated 228 1st downs offensively, and they committed 55 penalties for 490 yds. As a team they maintained an average of 125.1 yards in the run game, which was 98th in college football. Regarding putting points on the board, the Northwestern Wildcats were sitting at 13.8 points per contest.

The Wildcats sat in 83rd in Division 1 in terms of team defense, conceding 28.3 points per contest. Opposing teams ran for an average of 4.6 yards per running attempt and 191.3 yards on the ground per contest throughout last year. In total, they gave up 2,296 running yards through 12 contests. When it comes to yards through the air, the Wildcats conceded 2,201 yds which had them ranked 8th in the nation. In their 12 games, they allowed 183.4 yards per outing via the pass in addition to surrendering a completion percentage of 59.2%. They allowed 374.8 yards per contest which had them ranked 63rd in college football. They yielded 17 passing touchdowns as well as 24 touchdowns via the ground game.

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The Scarlet Knights wrapped up their year having earned a 4-8 mark. When they last played, the Scarlet Knights went home defeated by a final of 37-0 against the Maryland Terrapins. Gavin Wimsatt ended the contest with 48 yds on 5/13 through the air while his quarterback rate was 69.5. He didn't throw any interceptions and his average yards per pass attempt was 3.7. Kyle Monangai ran the ball 10 times for 45 yards, finishing the contest with 4.5 yards per carry for Rutgers. Rutgers rushed the ball for 2.3 yards per carry, finishing the game with 63 yards on 27 carries. The Scarlet Knights finished the game with a total of 135 yds while running 49 plays (2.8 yds per play). The Scarlet Knights pass defense conceded a completion rate of 62.2%, relinquishing 379 yards on 28 out of 45 through the air. Rutgers gave up 43 running attempts for 134 yds (3.1 yards per carry).

The Rutgers Scarlet Knights averaged 281.7 yards per outing, which had them sitting 127th in D-1. The Rutgers offense racked up 770 yds of penalties on 94 infractions, which ranked them 19th in the country in terms of helping out the opposition. Last season, the Scarlet Knights had a total of 1,847 yards via the pass in addition to an average of 153.9 throwing yards per outing, which ranked 124th in the country. When discussing their scoring prowess, the Scarlet Knights had a ranking of 124th in the nation with 17.4 PPG.

Rutgers gave up a total of 1,715 yards on the ground (142.9 yards per contest) and 23 touchdowns by way of the ground game last season. They allowed 16 touchdowns via the pass as well as 206.8 yards per outing, which had them in 35th in college football. The Scarlet Knights defense was on the field for 811 plays, which had them ranked 26th in college football. The Scarlet Knights gave up 29.8 points per game, which had them ranked 98th in Division 1. In total, they surrendered 358 points in total.

Who will win tonight's Wildcats/Scarlet Knights college football game against the spread?

Guy's Pick: Take the Wildcats +3

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