Rutgers Must Convert in the Red Zone Against North Carolina

The Scarlet Knights take on North Carolina this Thursday night hoping to turn their season in the right direction.  The Rutgers squad is coming off a loss to Fresno State, while the Tar Heels edged McNeese State in their season opener.

Since tickets are sold out, there is no doubt that the stadium in Piscataway will be packed with Rutgers fans giving support to the (0-1) team that desperately needs it at this point.

However, Greg Schiano has to find a way to get his team ready for battle to avoid watching fans pour out of the stadium early again.

The key to this game for Rutgers will be their defense, which played strong in the Fresno State game for the first half and then turned into a practice squad for the second.

T.J. Yates, the Carolina quarterback, will have to be pressured throughout the game.  Rutgers cannot allow him to sit in the pocket all game long.  He had a two-touchdown performance last week and completed 57.7 percent of his passes.

If the front four can pressure him, he will look more like the 18-interception QB he was last year.  Rutgers cannot let Hakeem Nicks or Brandon Tate run wide open down field for big gains either.

Nicks posted a 71-yard reception last week and could be eying the Rutgers defense, which gave up a few monster gains against Fresno State.  Rutgers should be able to control the rushing game, as Greg Little only posted 37 yards on 14 carries last week.  Shaun Draughn looked better with 30 yards on only seven carries and a touchdown.

Special Teams could prove critical in this one as well.  If the Scarlet Knights can break a few decent runbacks, it would take the pressure of Teel to move the ball 70 or 80 yards.

Rutgers took a punt back for a touchdown against Fresno State, only to have it negated by an illegal block.

Rutgers has to be careful of the Tar Heels' return game as well.  Brandon Tate busted a 56-yard kick return. He also returned three punts for 142 yards, including an 82-yard touchdown.

Also, who can forget Rutgers' poor field goal kicking?  They need to find an answer to that now.

The offense needs to be more confident.  Mike Teel needs to find a hint of accuracy in his throws that were all over the place last game.  The offense moved the ball well against Fresno State throughout the first half, but came up empty in the point column.

They should have no problem moving the ball against UNC, which gave up 27 points last week.  However, they cannot afford to leave the red zone without any points.  If they are unable to convert drives into points this game, it will be another loss for Rutgers.

Kordell Young needs to lower his pads and drive when they run near the goal line and the offensive line needs to supply some push for him.  Teel had time to throw last game, so the line needs to keep up the good work against the pass rush. 

PREDICTION

Rutgers, embarrassed after their opening loss, returns with a fire and blows away UNC.  Teel throws for four touchdowns, but also two interceptions.  Kordell Young will have a repeat performance, posting close to 100 yards and finding the end zone once.

RU-38  UNC-17