One of the first games kicking off Saturday afternoon comes out of Piscataway, New Jersey, as the Akron Zips take on the Rutgers Scarlet Knights.
After starting the season with a 52-6 loss to one of the national championship favorites in Ohio State, the Akron Zips only get a slight respite as they take on another Big Ten opponent. They enter this game with an 0-1 record, but are 1-0 against the spread.
Rutgers kicked off their season with a dominant 44-7 win over Howard at home. Despite the comfortable margin, Greg Schiano's team fell short of covering the 39-point spread and also kept the game total under 52.
Akron vs Rutgers Odds
| Akron Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
+23.5 -110 | 39.5 -110 / -110 | +1600 |
| Rutgers Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
-23.5 -110 | 39.5 -110 / -110 | -4500 |
Akron vs. Rutgers Preview
Akron Zips Betting Preview: Searching for Positives
Akron lost its season opener against Ohio State, but Joe Moorhead's squad managed to keep the margin of victory within the 48.5-point spread and showed some fight in the first half. Moral victories only matter if they help lift the team following a 2-10 season.
Starting QB Ben Finley was knocked out of the season opener and his status remains up in the air for this game. He was replaced by Tahj Bullock. The two combined to go 17-27 for 121 yards and one interception against the Buckeyes. They had a 36% passing success rate and averaged just 4.48 yards per attempt.
Bullock was the team's leading rusher with 42 yards, while the remainder of the team combined for just 19 yards. In 2023, the Zips ran a balanced offensive attack with 28.8 rush attempts per game. They averaged 2.8 rushing yards per attempt and 81 yards per game. While the team is unlikely to run the pure-RPO offense that they ran against Ohio State, the Rutgers defense presents enough challenges that Akron will almost assuredly remain run-heavy again.
One positive note from the season opener: Despite all of their struggles, the Zips forced Ohio State to punt three times and kick a field goal. And of the 52 total points allowed, only 38 were allowed by the defense, which allowed 7.5 yards per pass attempt and 5.2 yards per rush.
Rutgers Scarlet Knights Betting Preview: A New Era
Rutgers started off with an FCS opponent in Howard and won its tune-up by a score of 44-7. Following a 7-6 season, Schiano's team will look to build off of its success on the defensive side of the ball to improve on their results.
After three seasons of Gavin Wimsatt under center, Rutgers begins a new era at QB with Athan Kaliakmanis as the team's starter. The team rode out the comfortable victory with the run game, but the Minnesota transfer held his own with 147 passing yards, three touchdowns and 6.1 yards per rushing attempt. He will need to improve upon the 36% passing success rate moving forward.
Rutgers' offense runs through Kyle Monangai. He averaged 18.6 carries per game in 2023 and kicked off the 2024 season with 19 carries for 165 yards and one touchdown. He was helped in the backfield by Samuel Brown and Antwan Raymond, who combined for 20 carries and 117 rushing yards. As a team, Rutgers had a 43% success rate on rushing plays.
Akron vs Rutgers Pick & Prediction
The spread on the game opened at 23 and has moved half a point in either direction, depending on the sportsbook. As of this writing, 63% of bets and 86% of the money is on Rutgers to cover the large spread. And according to the Action Network PRO Report, both large money and sharp bets have come in favor of Rutgers to cover.
The total at 39.5 sits too close to my projection to make a move, although I'm tempted to lean toward the under in a game that should favor the running game.
My preferred play is to back the sharps and lay the points with Rutgers, but I believe bets should be kept to single unit plays, as I only see a small edge on the line.
