Rutgers (2-4, 1-2 Big Ten) at No. 24 Northwestern (5-1, 2-1 Big Ten). Saturday, Oct. 24, 11 a.m. CT (noon ET), Ryan Field, Evanston, Ill., Peacock.
Your hosts are Ezra Lindqvist, a Northwestern data journalist who footnotes his own jokes, and Vinny Scolari, an Exit 9 Jersey guy who gives directions by Turnpike exit.
Ezra: Welcome to Evanston. I've prepared directions from Exit 9. They are 47 footnotes long.
Vinny: Yo, Ezra. I don't need footnotes. Exit 9 never lies.
Players to watch
Northwestern quarterback Aidan Chiles has thrown for 1,398 yards and nine touchdowns with zero interceptions, completing 70.5% of his passes. Running back Caleb Komolafe has 401 yards and four scores, and wide receiver Griffin Wilde leads with 482 receiving yards. The Wildcats have lost only two turnovers all season, and their plus-7 margin ranks eighth in FBS. They score on 96.4% of red-zone trips, fourth in FBS.
Rutgers wide receiver K.J. Duff has 42 catches for 741 yards and nine touchdowns. Quarterback Dylan Lonergan has 1,066 yards, 10 touchdowns and six interceptions, and running back Antwan Raymond has 498 yards and five scores. Rutgers is the least penalized team in FBS, at 28.7 penalty yards per game.
Vinny: Duff's a Turnpike express lane. No tolls.
What happened last week
Northwestern won 24-21 at Michigan State on Jackson Kleather's 34-yard field goal with two seconds left, his third field goal of the day. Matthew Smith blocked a Michigan State field goal try late. Chiles went 18 of 27 for 226 yards and ran for a touchdown. Komolafe ran for 67 yards and a score and caught four passes.
Rutgers trailed Maryland 23-13 at halftime and came back to win 37-30. Lonergan went 23 of 35 for 291 yards and three touchdowns. Duff caught nine passes for 113 yards and two scores. Clay Thevenin ran for 109 yards and a touchdown and caught a touchdown pass.
Ezra: Footnote: I was right about Kleather. Footnote to the footnote: I said it quietly.
Injuries and availability
The first official Big Ten availability reports post three days before kickoff. No injury news has surfaced for either team, so check back closer to kickoff.
What the coaches are up to
David Braun was Northwestern's interim coach in 2023, was named permanent head coach on Nov. 15, 2023, and was the consensus Big Ten Coach of the Year. His team is 4-0 at home, and its only loss came 29-23 at Indiana. A trip to Oregon comes next.
Greg Schiano is in his second stint at Rutgers, which began when he returned in late 2019. His defense is the work in progress: it allows 31.8 points and 185.2 rushing yards per game. Rutgers lost 42-35 to USC back in September, then rallied past Maryland last week.
Player storylines
The arm-wrestle Vinny is worried about: Northwestern's run game, at 191.5 yards per game, against a Rutgers run defense allowing 185.2. The one Ezra is worried about: Duff against a Northwestern pass defense ranked 100th, at 230.5 yards per game.
Vinny: Our front digs in, their front flinches. That's the plan, pal.
What's happening on campus
It's Family Weekend in Evanston. The new Ryan Field is offering a game day experience with the Great Chicago Food Festival, a Big Ten Grillout and a Wildcat Football Mini-Camp for kids. The new stadium opened Oct. 2 against Penn State, exactly 100 years to the day after the original stadium hosted its first game in 1926. Northwestern won that opener 34-13. Homecoming was Oct. 10, a 45-14 win over Ball State. Rutgers lists an Off the Banks Tailgate for traveling fans.
Ezra: A brand-new stadium. I've already filed 14 pages on the sightlines.
Anything else fun and true
Rutgers played in the first college football game, beating Princeton 6-4 on Nov. 6, 1869. Northwestern opened this season at lakefront Martin Stadium, playing South Dakota State and Colorado there before moving into the new Ryan Field.
Vinny: Eighteen sixty-nine, Ezra. We invented this thing. Fuhgeddaboudit.
Ezra: Footnote: you invented it. We fact-checked it.
The Cover Window
My call: Northwestern Wildcats 38, Rutgers Scarlet Knights 20.