W2WF: Rutgers

In 1869, Rutgers University scheduled an athletics contest against Princeton. The sport resembled something of a rugby match, but its rules were different. "Fielders" played defense against attacking "bulldogs," with scores counted as "games." Players advanced the ball by hitting it like something of a soccer ball, even though hands were allowed. It was a show of competition and sportsmanship among the two New Jersey schools, confined that year to the one game in the Garden State.

There was no way of knowing how the sport would catch on, but 150 years later, college football is one of America's biggest cultural phenomenons. This weekend, Boston College heads to Rutgers to celebrate a cross-section of how it evolved with a renewal of a rivalry that resembles nothing of its past. It's a time warp dating back to the game's earliest days and a revisit of an old Big East rivalry. It's also a prime example of how things changed with a non-conference matchup between two teams who went very separate ways.

"Boston College comes to town (this week), and it's really an old-school rivalry renewed," Rutgers head coach Chris Ash said. "I think it's a great game for this region (with) two teams fairly close together, (from) Power Five conferences, old-school rivalry."

The two schools first met in 1919 when the New Jersey school traveled north for a 13-7 victory in Boston's seven-year old Fenway Park. That was the only meeting, though, for almost 40 years until BC finally returned the favor in 1956. Led by head coach Mike Holovak, the Eagles traveled to Piscataway and thumped Rutgers, 32-0, a year before it dedicated Alumni Stadium. It become a second one-off matchup and again went on hiatus for another 25 years, until 1981.

Jack Bicknell's first year ushered Rutgers back onto the schedule, and it became a permanent, albeit one-sided, fixture until 2004. BC won six straight games through the Doug Flutie era, losing its first game to the Scarlet Knights in 77 years in 1986. It touched a run of five wins in six years over BC, the last of which, in 1991, was in the newly-formed Big East.

Rutgers was a fledgling team at the time, and thoughts of a Northeast power rivalry never materialized. The Eagles went 12-0-1 over the rest of the Big East era, ending the series after 2004 when they departed for the ACC. Rutgers remained behind, and the matchup simply disappeared.

The 15-year break ends on Saturday with a game hearkening back to an older era. Fans will remember BC's annual wins over Rutgers in the Big East, and they will recall the Eagles' departure. They will probably reflect on the Scarlet Knights' annual struggles throughout much of the 1990s, a streak that included an 0-11 season in 1997. Indeed, the end of BC's Big East run didn't exactly strike a chord in the matchup; Rutgers improved but still finished 5-7 and 4-7 in the Eagles' final two seasons.

But the reformatted Big East, the one BC left, provided an opportunity that Rutgers seized. Greg Schiano led the Scarlet Knights to six bowl games in his last seven years with five victories. The 2007 team, just three years removed from BC's exit, went 11-2 and finished the year ranked No. 12. It was part of a 10-year run where Rutgers missed a bowl game only once with two losing seasons. It became a Big East power that, like BC, eventually left the league, departing the renamed-American Athletic Conference for the Big Ten in 2014.

Now, two teams who held so much with one another resumes at the site of the first college football game. It was where BC beat Rutgers for the first time, and now it's the site of the first non-conference power meeting between the two longtime geographic rivals.

"It makes sense (to play one another)," Ash said. "We had conversations about traveling to the West Coast to play non-conference games versus being able to play somebody locally. Financially, it's a smarter decision. For the fan base, it's a better deal and you're renewing some old rivalries. It's not just like our desire and their desire to do it. It's got to fit in each other's schedule. From my preference, I'd love to be able to do this more times than not."

Here's what to expect on Saturday in New Jersey:

*****
Weekly Storylines

Born to Run.

The week began with a serious reality check and soul search for the Boston College defense. The defensive line found itself gashed by Kansas, and the linebackers wound up both out of position and unable to tackle the Jayhawks' dual-back approach. This week, the entire unit receives a shot at redemption against a Rutgers team featuring a similar two-back lineup.

"I know they have two talented running backs," Steve Addazio said. "One of them is a hybrid receiver, and they're explosive. They do a good job with their offense in how they want to attack you, and I think they want to run the ball. They're a run-the-ball outfit. Defensively, they're really going to make you earn it."

Those running backs - Raheem Blackshear and Isaih Pacheco - present a whole host of challenges. Blackshear had nine receptions for 126 yards against Massachusetts in the season-opener and leads all running backs with 62.5 receiving yards per game. He enters the week as one of Rutgers' top returning athletes and possesses a unique blend of skills capable of challenging a defense.

Pacheco, meanwhile, is closer to the ground as a more traditional running back. He plowed the UMass defense for 156 yards and four touchdowns, but he showed pass-catching ability against Iowa with four receptions. It's a confusing switch-off from Blackshear that will require the BC defense, especially the linebackers, to play at top form.

"They have two really good backs," linebacker Max Richardson said. "They're going to try to run the ball. We didn't stop it against Kansas, so why would they not come in with big time backs and run it up the gut. But we've been preparing for the speed and physicality of it, and we're trucking right along."

Darkness on the Edge of Town.

The rest of Rutgers' offense remains a little bit of a mystery because of its Jekyll-and-Hyde performance of the first two weeks. McLane Carter is a graduate transfer from Texas Tech and became the first left-handed Scarlet Knight starting quarterback in over 20 years against UMass. He set a program record for southpaw passing with 340 yards in a performance dubbed as the best Rutgers debut start since Mike McMahon threw for 386 yards against Army in 1997.

The second week was a completely different story after Carter suffered a concussion in the first half. He was only 6-of-16 for 28 yards and an interception at the time and struggled mightily against Iowa's defense when he sustained the injury. His replacement, Artur Sitkowski, completed four passes and was a true freshman starter a year ago before Carter took over this year.

"Art's No. 2 on the depth chart and would be the starter," Chris Ash said. "We have to even see if McLane is cleared if he will be able to play in the game. He's missed a lot of practice time."

It actually makes preparing for the Scarlet Knights a little bit more difficult because left-handed quarterbacks are completely different from righties. Everything happens in reverse, from tight end alignment to roll-outs to running back play fakes. The right tackle position becomes the blind side, which places a change on the defensive line edge rushers. Linebackers usually have to flip positioning, and even the passes are quirkier with the way they spin in flight.

"If you looked at week one, we threw the ball pretty well," Ash said. "(In the second game) we played a pretty good opponent, and a lot of that credit goes to Iowa. Their front did a good job of playing pressure to the quarterback, not necessarily sacking him, but hitting him a few times. We need to be crisper with some of the routes that we're running. We need to look at what we're running (to) make sure that we can protect it, we can throw it, we can catch it, all of those things."

This is your hometown.

It goes without saying that a game in New Jersey is a big deal at Boston College. The Eagles are a Massachusetts-based school, but always retained recruiting roots and crossover into the New Jersey circuit. Seventeen members of the football roster are from the Garden State, including four starters. Anthony Brown grew up 18 miles away in Cliffwood, but isn't the one with a hometown closest to Rutgers; Marcus Valdez is from Perth Amboy, a stone's throw away at 10 miles. Other starters include Korab Idrizi, whose hometown of Fort Lee is the furthest at 43 miles, and Ben Petrula, who grew up in Freehold.

Freehold Township, by the way, is where Bruce Springsteen was born. If you know anything about me, you know that The Boss is by far my favorite musical artist. My friends and I once voted on a March Madness-style, 64-song bracket of songs by the E Street Band. So even though I'm Massachusetts born and bred, I had to work a reference to the New Jersey natives just so I could mix in a Springsteen reference or two.

*****
They Said It

"In a loss, you want to learn something from that. That takes time to look inside yourself and look inside the game." -Max Richardson

"It's pretty obvious when we take any loss. We re-bite and play our best games coming off a loss. You hate that it comes to that to play as well as we do sometimes, and you wish it would go all the way through. But it's a big motivator to come off last week and get on schedule for the season we want to have." -Ben Petrula

"Every team we play pretty much recruits in the state of New Jersey. Boston College, because of the proximity, recruits here a little bit more because it's so close." -Chris Ash

*****
Countdown to Kickoff

10…BC enters this game with a 10-game winning streak over Rutgers.
9…This is the first ACC road game at Rutgers in nine years, making BC the first ACC team to visit Piscataway to play a Big Ten team.
8…A BC win would make Rutgers the eighth team with 20 losses to the Eagles (Army, Boston University, Holy Cross, UMass, Syracuse, Temple, Villanova).
7…Rutgers represents the seventh former conference foe played by BC since leaving the Big East (Virginia Tech, Miami, Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Connecticut, Temple).
6…Rutgers debuted six true freshmen in the season-opening game against UMass.
5…A win on Saturday would be the fifth first road game win under Steve Addazio.
4…BC is playing a Big Ten team for the fourth consecutive season. It played Maryland and Iowa in 2016 and 2017 in bowl games and played at Purdue last season.
3…AJ Dillon is now third all-time in rushing touchdowns, tied with Andre Williams.
2…This is the first in a scheduled two-game series. Rutgers will play at BC in 2022.
1...Chris Ash teams at Rutgers are just 1-28 when scoring less than 20 points. They have the same record when tied or trailing at halftime.

*****
BC-Rutgers X Factor

The Front Seven

Last week's collective inability against Kansas was particularly painful to review. The defense never regained its mojo after allowing the 82-yard run at the end of the second quarter, and it played the second half one step behind the Jayhawks. Long drives gassed the front seven, but the alignment and play calls felt like a constant comeback attempt that never happened.

The explosive plays were a preseason concern on defense, especially given new personnel and especially still in the secondary. There was always something of an expectation that there would be, at some point, big pass plays, but those would be tempered by takeaways and interceptions. For me, the bigger area was in the front seven, where I assumed scheme would help new players acclimate much like the offensive line.

Last week was a major step back for that unit, and it forced a deep dive into film and fundamentals during the week. Either fortunately or unfortunately, those educational benchmarks will be tested immediately because of Rutgers' offensive scheme.

Nobody can be 100% positive what will be thrown at the BC defense on Saturday. It could be a left-handed quarterback or last year's right-handed starter. It could be two running backs capable of shifting out of the backfield and helping the pass game. There are unique blocking schemes and mindsets. Last game aside, this is a team that ran UMass off its home field in the first game of the season after it suffered the proverbial ring rust in the first quarter. Nothing can be taken for granted or written off.

"Establishing assignments and alignments go all the way back to spring football," Max Richardson said. "Week-by-week, we establish a gameplan, which (this week) is directly correlated to Rutgers and stopping their gap scheme, their inside and outside runs. We've had a high focus on their offense and we're going to establish our gameplan to shut that offense down."

This is a big opportunity and a critical game for the defense. How it performs will go a long way in establishing the long-mentioned synergy and getting the BC offense back on track.

*****
Meteorology 101

I've been ready for fall for about two months, so I'm going to grudgingly admit that the weather is going to be very, very nice with summer-like conditions. Temperatures will soar into the 80s under sunny skies, making the game feel more like August than late September. There shouldn't be too much humidity, meaning anyone driving down from Boston can roll the windows down and enjoy, especially as it gets closer to kickoff..

It's perfect conditions for a Springsteen song, if you ask me. (Note: the winner of the 64-song bracket earlier was Badlands).

*****
Scoreboard Watching

Last week was a real tough showing for the entire ACC. BC's loss to Kansas was the most immediate pain point, but the remainder of games didn't exactly post a banner weekend for one of the most competitive leagues in the nation.

Wake Forest beat North Carolina to remain undefeated, but the Demon Deacons led the game, 21-0, and only held on for a six-point victory. The Tar Heels had a chance for a Hail Mary at the end of the game, but controversially ran out of time when officials ruled Michael Carter didn't get out of bounds with one second left.

Elsewhere, Pittsburgh battled No. 13 Penn State but lost 17-10, and West Virginia scored 44 points in a victory over NC State. Virginia Tech struggled to get past Furman, and The Citadel - an FCS opponent in the Southern Conference - defeated Georgia Tech in overtime.

Week four then becomes and represents the ACC's shot at redemption, especially in non-conference games. BC is lone road team, at Rutgers, and will kick off opposite Syracuse and Wake Forest playing Western Michigan and Elon, respectively.

Pittsburgh hosts No. 15 UCF in a game at 3:30 p.m., opposite UNC's game against Appalachian State. Later, Miami hosts Central Michigan at 4 p.m. and No. 21 Virginia plays in-state rival Old Dominion at 7 p.m. NC State and Clemson round out the weekend with games against Ball State and Charlotte.

In the mid-afternoon, though, is one conference game with far-reaching implications. Virginia's win over Florida State last week means the Seminoles' game against Louisville is a potential early-season elimination game in the ACC Atlantic Division. A loss to the Cardinals would also hand FSU a third overall loss with games left against Clemson and Florida, making the margin of error significantly thin moving forward. Then again, a team playing with nothing to lose is often the most dangerous.

On the national radar, both the Big Ten and SEC have huge early-season conference games. No. 11 Michigan is at No. 13 Wisconsin at noon, and No. 8 Auburn plays at 3:30 p.m. against No. 17 Texas A&M. Later, No. 3 Georgia hosts No. 7 Notre Dame.

Other interesting matchups include No. 16 Oregon's trip to The Farm to play Stanford and No. 22 Washington's trip to BYU. I'm also really interested from a football perspective to see how Kansas and West Virginia capitalize on their respective momentums from last week, and both teams play each other at 4:30 p.m.

Nightcap games of note are No. 24 Arizona State's game against Colorado and No. 19 Washington State hosting UCLA at 10;30 p.m. Then there's the midnight start for Hawaii against Central Arkansas.

*****
Pregame Quote and Prediction

We're on to Cincinnati. -Bill Belichick

Boston College spent this entire week answering questions about its loss to Kansas. It created reasonable doubt because the team's performance had a bad sting to it. It was a shock to everyone both inside and outside the locker room.

At some point, though, the team needs to stop asking itself what happened against Kansas. The early week press conference felt like an analysis session, but the midweek media availabilities felt a little bit like that infamous Q&A with Bill Belichick after a Monday Night Football loss to Kansas City. In the NFL Films special about the 2014 Patriots, Belichick explained to the press where he repeated the same thing over and over: "We're onto Cincinnati."

"I could have said it three times, I could have done it 53 times," he said. "It could have been 103 times if that's what they wanted to keep asking, because we had to turn the page."

Ironically enough, the clip of Belichick explaining it features a Rutgers logo in the background on his white board. BC is moved on. The Kansas game is over.

They're onto Rutgers.

Boston College and Rutgers will kick off at noon on Saturday from SHI Stadium in Piscataway, New Jersey. The game can be seen on Big Ten Network or streamed on the FOX Sports App. It can also be heard on the BC Learfield IMG Sports Network, locally in Boston on WEEI 93.7 FM. Streaming satellite radio broadcast is available on Sirius channel 113, XM channel 386 or Online channel 970. The game can also be heard via the TuneIn app on mobile devices.

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Players Mentioned

Anthony Brown

AJ Dillon

Korab Idrizi

Ben Petrula

Max Richardson

Marcus Valdez