Northwestern vs Rutgers Odds: Any Hope for These Inept Offenses?
With a Total of 39.5, Oddsmakers Expect Offenses to Struggle

Two of the Big Ten Conference’s weaker college football programs, Northwestern and Rutgers, will square off Sunday (Noon ET) at SHI Stadium in Piscataway, N.J. According to NCAA football against the spread, the Scarlet Knights are 6.5-point favorites (-110) and -235 to win outright, while the Wildcats are +195 on the moneyline. The Over/Under is just 39.5 (-110), one of the lowest projected totals of Week 1.
Read on as we break down both teams in our Northwestern vs Rutgers odds preview.
Wildcats at Knights 
Day/Time:
Location: SHI Stadium; Piscataway, N.J.
Streaming: CBS
Focus Shifts for ‘Cats
The Northwestern Wildcats finally get to turn the page following a chaotic offseason that culminated with the dismissal of head coach Pat Fitzgerald. That’s the good news.
The bad news? Expectations are low. Really, really low. In fact, Northwestern is projected for just 3.0 wins (-105 Over, -125 Under). At +30000, the Wildcats have the second-longest odds to win the Big Ten.
Taking over for Fitzgerald on an interim basis is his hand-picked defensive coordinator, David Braun. Braun, who’d spent the last four seasons at North Dakota State, is starting with a clean slate. In 2021, he was named the FCS Coordinator of the Year after helping lead the Bison to a national title. He’s never coached at the FBS level.
It’s a lot to take on. But in the month-plus since Fitzgerald was fired, Braun and the remaining staff have managed to keep most of the roster intact. That includes Cincinnati transfer Ben Bryant, a sixth-year senior who will take over at quarterback. Bryant started 11 games before a season-ending injury in 2022, completing 61.2% of his passes for 2,732 yards and 21 touchdowns. He’s tasked with improving an offense that averaged a measly 13.8 points per game and must replace All-American left tackle Peter Skoronski.
Complicating matters, the wildcats return just five defensive starters. Defense, of course, is Braun’s expertise, but this is a challenge unlike any he’s dealt with before. Since reaching the Big Ten Championship in 2020, the Wildcats are just 4-20 over the last two seasons. Keep that in mind when assessing the Northwestern vs Rutgers odds.
Rutgers Still Chasing Past Success
Greg Schiano’s second coaching stint with the Rutgers Scarlet Knights hasn’t gone nearly as well as the first. The Scarlet Knights were 4-8 last year, including just 1-8 in Big Ten play, and are still searching for their first winning season since Schiano returned to the sidelines in 2020.
Will this be the year? Unlikely. Rutgers is projected for just 4.5 wins (+105 Over, -125 Under) and is +30000 to win the Big Ten. Only Indiana (+50000) has longer conference odds.
Of course, it doesn’t help that Rutgers was a mess offensively last year. While not quite as bad as Northwestern, the Scarlet Knights still ranked toward the bottom of the country in scoring. They averaged only 17.4 points per game. To help rejuvenate the unit, Schiano brought back offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca, who’d worked previously at Rutgers from 2008-10. Ciarrocca most recently was on P.J. Fleck’s staff at Minnesota.
Ciarrocca’s mission? Get the most out of quarterback Gavin Wimsatt. The Scarlet Knights’ passing game connected on just 48.5% of their attempts in Big Ten play, an unsustainable total. There’s not much talent around him, at least by Big Ten standards, so improvement may be hard to come by. Remember, this is not a team that’s going to contend for the NCAAF playoffs and/or climb up the college football rankings.
Handicapping the Game
Rutgers is flawed team. Schiano is still trying to recreate the magic from his initial run with the school, when he won four straight bowl games and had the Scarlet Knights ranked in the AP Top 10. Unfortunately, those days are long gone. The Scarlet Knights’ quarterback situation is bleak, and there’s not enough talent coming through the pipeline at other positions to help change their fortunes.
But Northwestern might be worse. And that’s not an exaggeration. A flawed roster and an unstable coaching situation is a toxic combination for any school, let alone one coming off a 1-11 season. Clearly, that’s reflected in the Northwestern vs Rutgers odds.
For college football betting news, odds, analysis and more, visit Point Spreads Sports Magazine.
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