Michigan Wolverines at Rutgers Scarlet Knights

Kyle Whittingham's first Michigan team rolls into Piscataway in late October, and the history here isn't close — Rutgers has beaten the Wolverines exactly once in this rivalry.

Bush’s Picks

MICHRUTG

MICHRUTG

OverUnder

Best BetMichigan

Michigan is the pedigree pick here and the history backs it up — 9 wins in 10 tries against Rutgers, including 2 lopsided blowouts. Underwood's second-year growth under a new staff only widens the talent gap against a Rutgers team replacing its starting quarterback. This reads as a heavy favorite spot for the Wolverines.

Michigan

• +Underwood poised for Year 2 leap under new OC Beck
• +Whittingham brings a 177-88 track record from Utah
• +Projected top-15 nationally, contender-level talent
• −First-year staff still installing new system
• −Underwood battled pressure and turnovers as a freshman
• −One of the Big Ten's toughest schedules this year

Rutgers

• +Antwan Raymond returns after 1,241-yard, 13-TD season
• +KJ Duff is a proven big-play receiving threat
• +Schiano has steadily built the program toward bowl relevance
• −New starting QB in transfer Dylan Lonergan
• −Offensive line pass protection was a major weakness
• −Just 1 win in 10 all-time meetings vs Michigan

This one's really about Bryce Underwood's development arc. The 5-star sophomore struggled behind a shaky pocket as a freshman, completing just 43.4% of his throws under pressure with 3 interceptions, and now he's got a new head coach in Whittingham and a new play-caller in Jason Beck trying to unlock him. By the time Michigan gets to Piscataway on Friday, October 30, this offense should look a lot more like the finished product than the one that opened the season.

Rutgers is dealing with its own quarterback change, just with a lot less hype attached. Athan Kaliakmanis is gone after 2 years as the starter, replaced by Boston College transfer Dylan Lonergan, who inherits a run game led by Antwan Raymond (1,241 yards, 13 touchdowns a year ago) and a legitimate outside threat in KJ Duff (60 catches, 1,084 yards, 7 scores). The concern for Greg Schiano's group is protection up front — last year's line couldn't keep the pocket clean, and Lonergan isn't the scrambling type who bails himself out.

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Put it together and early power ratings aren't kind to the home team — Rutgers projects around 68th nationally with roughly a 6-win outlook, while Michigan is being talked about as a top-15, Big Ten title contender even in Year 1 under Whittingham. That gap matters against a Rutgers program still trying to prove it belongs in these games rather than just be competitive in them.

Michigan Wolverines

Oct 16?vs Penn State—

Oct 2?@ Minnesota—

Sep 25?vs Iowa—

Sep 19?vs UTEP—

Sep 12?vs Oklahoma—

Sep 5?vs Western Michigan—

Rutgers Scarlet Knights

Oct 16?@ Maryland—

Oct 3?vs Indiana—

Sep 25?vs Howard—

Sep 19?vs USC—

Sep 11?@ Boston College—

Sep 3?vs Massachusetts—

The head-to-head history only reinforces the gap. Michigan is 9-1 all-time against Rutgers since the Scarlet Knights joined the Big Ten, including a 78-0 blowout in the series opener and a 52-17 win the last time these two met. Rutgers' lone win came off a blocked field goal in 2014 — the kind of moment that doesn't come around often against this level of talent disparity.

Michigan Wolverines

(0)

Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report

Rutgers Scarlet Knights

(0)

Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report

For Rutgers, the path to another upset runs through establishing Raymond early and hoping Lonergan doesn't have to throw 35 times into a leaky protection scheme. For Michigan, it's about whether Underwood looks like the player Whittingham's staff believes he can be with a full season of installation behind him. By late October, that answer should be a lot clearer than it is right now.