Louisville Cardinals at Rutgers Scarlet Knights Preview

Thursday night at 7:30, the Rutgers Scarlet Knights will play host to the Louisville Cardinals in a Big East showdown. Although it looks like Rutgers has the conference locked up, depending on this outcome, and the Cincinnati/UConn outcome, quite a few teams could win a share of the Big East Championship.

Teddy Bridgewater will look to overcome
a broken wrist this Thursday.

Louisville sophomore quarterback Teddy Bridgewater broke his left (non-throwing) wrist. But he will still play against the Rutgers. Although, the Rutgers defense is ranked 4th in the nation when it comes to points allowed, Bridgewater is going to tough is out. Rutgers defense however, is looking to give Bridgewater a rough game.

Bridgewater has been having a very good season. He is 247/359, he has thrown for 3,189 yards, and has thrown 23 touchdowns and only six interceptions. Very impressive stats for the sophomore.

Rutgers sophomore quarterback Gary Nova will be looking to lead his team to a victory on home turf. Nova has thrown for 2,282 yards this season, 20 touchdowns, and 13 interceptions. Impressive amount of touchdowns, but the 13 interceptions brings a level of concern. Although Louisville is giving up an average of 24.5 points per game.

Both teams' junior running backs will be looking to take the load off of their quarterbacks a little, and open up the running game so each team have multiple options. Louisville running back, Jeremy Wright, hasn't quite hit 1,000 yards yet, so far rushing for 723 yards this season. He has also scored nine rushing touchdowns. Wright is actually back up running back to Senorise Perry, who unfortunately is out for the season with a torn ACL.

Gary Nova has thrown for over 2,000 yards this season.

The Scarlet Knights' running back Jawan Jamison has eclipsed the 1,000 yard mark, and has also punched in four rushing touchdowns.

Both teams also have a group of very capable and reliable wide receivers.

Louisville has DeVante Parker and Andrell Smith, who have combined for over 60 receptions, 1,000 yards receiving and 11 touchdowns. Meanwhile Rutgers is equip with Brandon Coleman and Mark Harrison, who have combined for over 70 receptions, nearly 1,000 yards receiving and 14 touchdowns.

On paper, these teams look very similar. Louisville does average nearly 90 more yards per game in passing, but with Teddy Bridgewater injured, I'm not surprised how dangerous their passing game will be.

Bridgewater won't be effective taking snaps from center, but will have to take snaps from the Pistol or Shotgun formations. He also won't be able to use the play-action pass like he has done so much this year. That is clearly an issue that somehow the Cardinals will have to overcome. In the end, I really could see either team win this one. It's definitely a matchup to watch Thursday night at 7:30 PM on ESPN!

- Matt Lytle

@mattlytle

#22 Rutgers Scarlet Knights at Cincinnati Bearcats Preview

Gary Nova will look to lead #22 Rutgers past Cincinnati on Saturday.

Saturday at noon eastern, the #22 Rutgers Scarlet Knights travel to Nippert Stadium to take on the Cincinnati Bearcats in a Big East showdown that could see the Bearcats clawing their way back to the top of the Big East standings, although Louisville will need to lose another game or two as well.

The Scarlet Knights are led by sophomore quarterback Gary Nova, who is 162/264 for the year with 1,939 yards, 18 touchdowns thrown, and 10 interceptions. Nova has been a staple in the offense, and has stepped up saying he'll take a bigger role if junior running back Jawan Jamison can't go because of an ankle injury. Coach Kyle Flood has said Jamison has a 75% chance to go against the Bearcats on Saturday. Good sign for Rutgers, as Jamison has over 900 rushing yards, and punched it in the endzone for four touchdowns.

Junior wide receiver Brandon Coleman will also look to have a big game, adding on to his receiving total of an already impressive 503 yards and eight touchdowns.

Another big factor of this game with be the Scarlet Knights' defense, who has only given up an average of 13 points per game. That makes them ranked fifth in the nation.

New starting QB Brendon Kay looks to take down the Scarlet Knights.

Cincinnati looks like they have found a new starting quarterback in their senior QB Brendon Kay, who had his first career start last week against Temple. He led the Bearcats to a 34-10 victory, throwing for over 200 yards and two touchdowns through the air.

Munchie Legaux, who had a lot of hype coming into the season, hasn't been as effective as the Bearcats had hoped, so it looks like Kay may have earned himself the starter role for the rest of his senior year.

Legaux however still could be used as he can throw the ball as well as scramble with it. Not sure if Cincinnati would want to go that route, but with another QB like Munchie, it opens up the playbook to all sorts of trick plays.

The Bearcats rushing game has averaged 226 yards per game, which makes them ranked 16th in the country. Senior running back George Winn is leading the team with 173 carries for 980 yards and nine touchdowns. Winn will be looking to break 1,000 yards for the season this Saturday, and odds are, he will. Ralph Abernathy, who is a sophomore, has also seen some rushing attempts for 341 yards and three touchdowns.

Brendon Kay finds himself in a high pressure spot Saturday at Nippert Stadium, but he has two wide receivers that will make his job a little easier. Both seniors, Travis Kelce and Kenbrell Thompkins have about 50 receptions between the two of them for over 800 combined yards and six total touchdowns.

The key to this game will be Brendon Kay and the Bearcats offense. If they can wear down Rutgers defense, and be able to have a good showing from George Winn to open up some nice deep pass plays by QB Kay, the Bearcats could definitely win this game.

The Scarlet Knights will need to shut down the offensive weapons that the Bearcats possess to win this one. It should definitely be a good one Saturday at noon. It looks like it'll be airing on the Big East Network, or on ESPN3. You can also probably catch it on your WatchESPN app. I know I will be!

- Matt Lytle

@mattlytle