Rutgers has become a respectable Big Ten team under Greg Schiano. The Scarlet Knights can't compete with the conference elites, but they can beat the lower tier teams such as Illinois especially in this instance given the situation and the Illini's QB situation.

Illinois is off a huge nine overtime victory against Penn State. The Illini were 24-point road 'dogs in that game. Unfortunately for the Illini they lost their quarterback, Artur Sitkowski, in that game to a broken arm.

Brandon Peters replaces Sitkowski. Peters has starting experience, but he's a downgrade.

Rutgers has a top-50 scoring defense despite having played Ohio State, Michigan and Michigan State.