Jim Harbaugh entered the 2021 season on the hot seat after a disappointing 2-4 record in his sixth year at the helm in Michigan. But after a 3-0 start with a dominant win over Washington sandwiched between wins over MAC opponents, the Wolverines are hoping to make a run in the Big Ten and Harbaugh’s program is looking up. But Michigan will have a battle on its hands against an upstart Rutgers program that took the Wolverines to overtime a season ago.
Greg Schiano’s program is 3-0 as well and the defense will be looking to prove that it’s for real when the game kicks off at 3:30 p.m. ET in Michigan Stadium. The Wolverines are favored by 20 points and the over-under is at 50 points according to the latest Michigan vs. Rutgers odds from Caesars Sportsbook. Before entering any Michigan vs. Rutgers picks, you’ll want to see the college football predictions from the model at SportsLine.
The SportsLine Projection Model simulates every FBS college football game 10,000 times. Over the past five-plus years, the proprietary computer model has generated a stunning profit of almost $3,000 for $100 players on its top-rated college football picks against the spread. It also enters Week 4 of the 2021 season on a 72-58 run on all top-rated college football picks. Anyone who has followed it has seen huge returns.
Now, the model has set its sights on Michigan vs. Rutgers. You can head SportsLine now to see its picks. Here are several college football odds for Rutgers vs. Michigan:
- Michigan vs. Rutgers spread: Michigan -20
- Michigan vs. Rutgers over-under: 49.5 points
What you need to know about Rutgers
Rutgers is off to its first 3-0 start in nine years as its had little trouble in early nonconference games. The Scarlet Knights routed Temple 61-14 in the opener before going on the road and knocking off Syracuse in Week 2. They then faced FCS school Delaware last week and used a 28-point second quarter to coast to a 45-13 victory.
The strength of Rutgers has been its defense, which has allowed just four total touchdowns thru three games. The 11.3 points its allowing per game ranks 11th in the nation and Rutgers was allowing 37.7 points per game at this point in the season last year. Leading the defensive effort are fifth-year seniors Julius Turner and Olakunle Fatukasi, as they each rank second in the Big Ten in sacks and tackles for loss, respectively.
What you need to know about Michigan
The Wolverines have paved a road to 3-0 by playing old-school, smashmouth football, and it’s a formula that they’ll attempt to follow once again versus Rutgers. Michigan has rushed for at least 335 yards in all three games this season and the Wolverines have limited opponents to 343 yards of total offense or fewer in all three games.
Blake Corum and Hassan Haskins have formed a devastating one-two punch on the ground, with Haskins rushing for 281 yards and four touchdowns while Corum has piled up 407 rushing yards and scored a total of eight times. Rutgers has only allowed 3.5 yards per rush so far this season, so it will be strength on strength, but Washington has only allowed 3.1 yards per rush in its other two games and Michigan was still able to impose its will on it.
How to make Michigan vs. Rutgers picks
The model has simulated Michigan vs. Rutgers 10,000 times and the results are in. The model is leaning over on the total, and it’s also generated a point-spread pick that is hitting in well over 50 percent of simulations. You can only see the pick at SportsLine.
So who wins Michigan vs. Rutgers? And which side of the spread hits in well over 50 percent of simulations? Visit SportsLine now to find out which side of the Michigan vs. Rutgers spread you need to jump on Saturday, all from the model that has crushed its college football picks, and find out.
