Fearless Forecast: Rutgers vs. Northwestern

Three Octobers ago, in the last time these two teams played, Northwestern found the horse they would ride to the Big Ten West title.

True freshman Isaiah Bowser carried the ball 24 times for 108 yards and two touchdowns as Northwestern rallied for an ugly 18-15 win over Rutgers in Piscataway, N.J. Bowser ran it 17 times for 90 yards in the second half alone and emerged as the punishing runner that the Wildcats were looking for. With him taking the lions' share of the carries from that point forward, the Wildcats won their last four Big Ten games to clinch a berth in the 2018 conference championship game.

This 2021 Northwestern team is also in search for some type of winning formula as it prepares to again battle the Scarlet Knights. After a brutal 49-point bludgeoning in Lincoln and a bye week, the Wildcats (2-3, 0-2 Big Ten) desperately need a win if they want to have any chance of going bowling at the end of the season.

Will the Wildcats' defense recover some of its lost swagger? Can the offense score enough against the rugged Scarlet Knights? Will some Homecoming magic rub off from the 1995 and 1996 Big Ten champion Northwestern squads who will be feted at Ryan Field?

Here are our staff's predictions.

MORE: The skinny on Rutgers l With season hanging in balance, Northwestern goes back to drawing board

My take: I think this is a big game for Northwestern for a few reasons: they’re currently 0-2 in the Big Ten (0-1 in the Big Ten West), their last game was atrocious against Nebraska, it is Homecoming and more importantly this is a really great opportunity for them to jumpstart a new narrative for this team’s season coming out of the bye week. Now this isn’t the normal overlook-on-your-schedule type of Rutgers team. This Rutgers team is one that has competed this year and is looking to win, not just "be in the game".

I’m confident that a Coach Fitzgerald team coming out of a bye week will be prepared in the game plan and primed to put forth a better effort than the last one we seen. I’m concerned because you don’t want a loss like the one against Nebraska to linger for longer than the team’s time in Lincoln.

Fearless forecast: Northwestern 31 Rutgers 28

Confidence level: 5 (out of 10)

My take: Northwestern and Rutgers face off in a game that could rightly be characterized as “must win” for both teams. They’re a combined 0-5 in Big Ten play and the loser on Saturday can kiss a bowl game good bye.

Northwestern is coming off of a bye but before that they gave arguably the second-most embarrassing performance of the Pat Fitzgerald era (behind losing to Illinois State at home in 2016) in a 56-7 loss to Nebraska that wasn’t even as close as that lopsided score indicated. This is a chance for Northwestern to show some pride and not let a season go to waste for the second time in three years. Whether or not they do depends on whether the defense was able to change course and get back on track during the bye.

Northwestern’s defense has shown absolutely no ability to stop a Power Five offense so far this season, allowing 41.3 points per game. The defense got worse over the first five weeks of the season, so even though the bye presents a chance to make changes, the coaching staff hasn’t shown the awareness to make those adjustments. The feeling was there when Kenneth Walker III went 75 yards to the house on the first play of the season, 2021 is 2019 2.0, and Saturday will confirm it.

Fearless forecast: Rutgers 34 Northwestern 21.

Confidence level: 10

My take: Here lies the last dregs of my optimism for Northwestern’s 2021 campaign. If this game is a loss, than 2019 has truly returned and it is hard to see light at the end of the upcoming Michigan-Minnesota-Iowa-Wisconsin tunnel. But Northwestern and Rutgers have had the same amount of Big Ten wins: 0. Rutgers just had to face a gauntlet of Michigan, Ohio State and Michigan State.

The Scarlet Knights will be worn down, and their offense has been far from prolific against that competition, stiff though it is. If the Northwestern defense is ever going to arrive, now is the time, and with two weeks to prepare and reset, it will deliver.

Ryan Field should be friendly on Homecoming, Northwestern's offense will get Ryan Hilinski and Stephon Robinson Jr. going early, and this will be a traditional, nail-biting Wildcat win.

Fearless forecast: Northwestern 21 Rutgers 17

Confidence level: 3

My take: The fact that Northwestern is a home underdog to Rutgers tells you all you need to know about how this season has gone so far. The defending Big Ten West champs are still searching for their first win over a Power Five team in Week 6.

The team has had a week off to get their minds right after the most embarrassing defensive performance in Fitz's 16 years in Evanston against Nebraska. Hopefully, they've simplified things so that players can fly around and make plays again -- or, at the very least, hold a team to less than 50 yards on their first offensive snap of the game. Plus, Rutgers ranks 99th in the nation in total offense and could be missing two of its top wideouts on Saturday. This is not an explosive offense they are facing.

I think the Wildcat defense will rebound from the assassination in Lincoln and get back to playing some fundamentally sound football. The offense will establish the ground game, Ryan Hilinski will take some shots over the top and the Wildcats will do just enough to notch their first Big Ten win of the year in an artless Homecoming rock fight.

Fearless forecast: Northwestern 23 Rutgers 20

Confidence level: 4