posted December 27, 2006 at 19:30 EST in NCAA F Betting Trends

Inaugural Texas Bowl Game, December 28th, 2007

Reliant Stadium, Houston, Texas

Rutgers (10-2) vs. Kansas State (7-5)

Line Rutgers –8 total 44

This is an easy game for me to handicap as I have seen all of Rutgers’ games this year, and I can tell you this team is the real deal. Their coaching staff, led by head coach Greg Schiano, has put together a fine defense and has a wealth of talent in their young quarterback Mike Teel.

To balance the attack, they have running backs Ray Rice, who gained 1,624 yards and had 19 touchdowns, and fullback Brian Leonard, who does everything on the field.

They are a solid club and Teel has gotten better with each game.

Starting the year 9-0, including a come from behind win against a very tough Louisville team, the Scarlet Knights then came out flat and lost to Cincinnati, which took them out of BCS contention.

Then, a loss to a very good West Virginia team gave them their 10-2 season. The strong points of this team are their ability to run the ball, control the clock and play great D. This is something that Kansas State will not be able to handle.

Kansas State gave up 102 points in their last three games of 2006. Rutgers will exploit them and frustrate them on defense and control this game from the start.

 

Kansas State’s freshman quarterback, Josh Freeman, is erratic and has thrown 13 INT’s and just six TD’s. He is prone to mistakes due to his inexperience and Rutgers will make him pay for each miscue.

 

Rutgers is a program on the build. Coach Schiano has turned down better jobs to stay in New Jersey and build a program with his stamp on it, so a big win here will go along way towards helping in recruiting for the Scarlet Knights.

These teams had one common opponent this year, it was Louisville: Rutgers came from far behind to beat the Cardinals 28-25, while Kansas State could not stay with Louisville, losing 24-6 in Kansas to an injury riddled Cardinal squad.

The total here of 44 ½ is tough, I think it might be a little low but, with a great D like Rutgers has, I find it hard to bet the over.

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You can contact Pete by emailing jrclemente@hotmail.com.