2023 College Football Betting: Rutgers vs #2 Michigan Game Lines

No. 2 Michigan had no trouble in its non-conference schedule without suspended head coach Jim Harbaugh, but he will be back on the sideline Saturday when the Wolverines host Rutgers as heavy favorites on the NCAAF odds in their Big Ten opener.

2023 College Football Odds and Expert Analysis: Rutgers Scarlet Knights vs. #2 Michigan Wolverines | 2023 NCAAF Expert Analysis MyBookie Sportsbook

Regular Season: August 26 to December 9
Week 4: Thursday, September 21 to Saturday, September 23, 2023

How to Bet Rutgers at Michigan NCAA Football Odds & TV Info

When: Saturday, noon ET
Where: Michigan Stadium
TV: Big Ten Network
Stream: BTN Plus
Radio: Tunein.com
Opening NCAAF Lines: Michigan -24 (total 44.5)

Last Season

Michigan won at Rutgers 52-17 last year when it was ranked No. 5 nationally. J.J. McCarthy threw for two touchdowns and ran for another. Running back Blake Corum had two short TD runs and linebacker Michael Barrett intercepted two passes in a big third quarter, returning the second one 31 yards for a touchdown. Timmy Ward scored on a 7-yard return of a blocked punt, Jude McAtamney kicked a 32-yard field goal and Wimsatt threw a 3-yard TD pass to Sean Ryan to give the 25-point underdog Scarlet Knights a 17-14 halftime edge. They faded in the second half to lose their eighth in a row in the series. Michigan leads 8-1 all-time.

Why Bet on Rutgers?

Rutgers (3-0) concluded its non-conference schedule with a 35-16 win over Virginia Tech on Saturday. RB Kyle Monangai led the way with 143 rushing yards and a career-high three touchdowns, including a career-long 55-yard rushing score in the fourth quarter. Monangai is the first Scarlet Knight to top 100 rushing yards in consecutive games since Robert Martin in 2016 (New Mexico, Iowa). Monangai’s three TDs were the most in a game for Rutgers since Isiah Pacheco had four versus Massachusetts in 2019.

Monangai surpassed 1,000 career rushing yards, now up to 1,037 with 357 so far in 2023. He Monangai leads the Big Ten with 126.7 all-purpose yards per game and 357 rushing yards (sixth nationally), scoring five touchdowns.

Rutgers rushed for 256 yards after running for 254 the week prior versus Temple. It marked the first time since 1993 (Colgate, Duke) the Scarlet Knights topped 250 rushing yards in back-to-back games. QB Gavin Wimsatt tallied his second rushing touchdown of the season, ran for a career-high 87 yards and found WR Christian Dremel for a touchdown pass. Wimsatt has started the season with 34 completions for 407 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. He has added 144 yards and two scores on the ground.

Rutgers improved to 61-32 under head coach Greg Schiano when scoring first, 75-31 when scoring at least 20 points, 59-6 when allowing 20 or fewer points, 60-20 when winning the turnover battle and 56-22 when scoring at least three offensive touchdowns. Rutgers is 10-1 since 2020 when not turning the ball over in a game.

RU ranks second nationally in sacks allowed per game (0.3), seventh in scoring defense (10.0), 11th in interceptions defensively (5), 11th in rushing defense (69.7), 15th in fewest penalties (11), 15th in turnover margin (+4), 17th in time of possession (33:04) and 20th in rushing offense (210.7).

Rutgers seeks to start 4-0 for the first time since 2012 and 2-0 in Big Ten play for the first time since joining the league. It is one of six teams that rank in the top 20 nationally in both rushing offense and defense (Air Force, Oregon State, Syracuse, TCU, UCLA).

Bet Rutgers Scarlet Knights to Win
MyBookie Betting Lines for NCAAF

Why Bet on Michigan?

Michigan self-imposed a three-game suspension for football coach Jim Harbaugh to begin the 2023 season, stemming from alleged violations during the COVID-19 dead period. Harbaugh will be back on the sideline for this one.

The Wolverines didn’t need him in their first three games, all easy wins. They handled Bowling Green 31-6 on Saturday. After three first-half turnovers resulted in a pair of Bowling Green field goals, the Wolverines flipped the script and took advantage of two BGSU turnovers inside its 26-yard line to ignite their offense in the third quarter with 17 points in the first nine minutes and blow the game open.

Running back Blake Corum carried the ball 12 times for a season-high 101 yards and two touchdowns — his second straight multi-touchdown game — with touchdown runs of four yards and two yards in the first and third quarters, respectively.

Quarterback J.J. McCarthy completed 8-of-13 passes for two touchdowns and threw three interceptions — his first of the season. Wide receiver Roman Wilson posted his sixth touchdown of the season — tied with Corum for the team high — in the second quarter as part of a two-catch, 42-yard effort. Wilson and Corum have both scored at least once in all three games this season.

Corum reached 37 TDs for his career and remains sixth all-time at Michigan. Corum needs another two scores to match Chris Perry and reach the top five. Corum’s 2,746 career rushing yards are just 154 shy of the top 10 all-time. Each of U-M’s first five scoring drives lasted no more than 2:45 of game time and in five plays or fewer. Michigan’s longest drive of the game was 3:48 minutes long.

Through three games, McCarthy has completed 56-of-68 pass attempts (82.4 percent) for the No. 2 ranking in the nation. He also ranks eighth in pass efficiency (195.9) and 13th in yards per pass attempt (10.53).

The Wolverines have won 18 straight games at home dating back to 2021. It is the longest home winning streak under Harbaugh and the program’s best since a 21-game streak from 1998-2001 under coach Lloyd Carr.

The defense has registered consecutive games with 10 tackles for loss; has nine sacks in those two games. U-M leads the county in fewest TFLs and is second in sacks allowed. It is the national leader in scoring defense (5.3 points per game) and ranks second in total defense (222.3 yards per game) with top-20 ranks in pass efficiency defense (15th) and rushing defense (17th). Opponents have totaled 19 first downs across two fourth quarters and 18 first downs across six other quarters.

Michigan has a chance to build on a 14-game league win streak, the program’s longest since a 16-game conference streak spanning 1996-98. This will be the 121st homecoming game (excluding alumni exhibitions) and the 125th all-time homecoming game played by the Wolverines in Ann Arbor. Michigan has a 93-27 record in homecoming games (94-28-2 including exhibitions). U-M has won 10 straight homecoming games.

Bet Michigan Wolverines to Win
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Expert Prediction

Michigan 34, Rutgers 13

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