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The Indiana Hoosiers are 5-1 against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights since October of 2015, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Saturday. IU and RU will face off in a Big Ten battle at noon ET at Memorial Stadium. Neither the Hoosiers nor RU could muster much offensive firepower in their last games, so look to the defense to decide this one.
IU has to be hurting after a devastating 29-7 loss at the hands of the Michigan Wolverines last week. IU was surely aware of their 20.5-point disadvantage in the point spread, but the foreknowledge did nothing to prevent the result. QB Donaven McCulley had a memorable game, but not in the way you want to be remembered: besides failing to produce a single touchdown, he fumbled the ball once with only 88 yards passing.
Meanwhile, a victory for the Scarlet Knights just wasn't in the stars last week as the squad never even grasped a temporary lead. It's hard to picture a worse defeat than the 52-3 bruising that they suffered against the Wisconsin Badgers. RU was in a tough position by the half, with the score already sitting at 31-3.
The Hoosiers are the favorite in this one, with an expected 7-point margin of victory. True fans might be the only ones betting on them, currently 1-7 ATS, to cover the spread.
The losses put IU at 2-7 and RU at 4-5. A pair of defensive stats to keep an eye on: IU is stumbling into the game with the 213th most touchdowns allowed in the nation, having given up 31 on the season. The Scarlet Knights have experienced some struggles of their own as they are 201st worst in the nation in passing touchdowns allowed, with 16 on the season. It's possible one of these Achilles' heels will wind up tripping the losing team up.
