Rutgers may be ranked for the first time since 1976, but it won’t have a picnic Friday night in South Florida. The Bulls have had some problems sticking the ball in the end zone, but they have been very good at keeping their opponents out of it. Last week, South Florida held Kansas to just 13 points on the road. This week, the Bulls will be tested by an offense which has put plenty of points on the board the past few weeks including 56 points last week against Howard.

The facts are that the Scarlet Knights will get their first test in nearly a month against the Bulls. They were tested in their opener against the Tar Heels in Chapel Hill, but since then they’ve been playing pushovers. I think the easy non-conference schedule will definitely show Friday night as Rutgers will face the best defense they’ve seen this season. South Florida’s defense has kept the Bulls in each game this year until the offense is finally able to get it going. Because of this stingy “D”, the Bulls have come up with three come from behind wins before falling to Kansas last week.

One factor that could benefit South Florida is the absence of Rutgers wide receiver Shawn Tucker. This means that Rutgers will rely primarily on a running game. South Florida will be able to put eight in the box and make the Scarlet Knights beat them through the air.

Last season, the Bulls got the better of Rutgers with a 45-31 victory at Rutgers Stadium. You can bet that revenge will be on the minds of the Scarlet Knights, but you can also bet that the Bulls will be confident after what they did to them on the road last season. Knocking off a ranked team will give the South Florida Bulls a huge lift.

Have I been talking about South Florida’s defense? The Scarlet Knights are 11th in the country against the rush and seventh against the pass. However, Rutgers is yet to come up against a talent like freshman quarterback Matt Grothe. Grothe has proved that he can beat teams with his feet and with his arm. Despite being just a freshman, he has shown great poise leading his team to three come from behind victories.

Is Rutgers defense for real or does it just look good because of the level of competition the Knights have been playing? This is one important question that goes a long way in finding the winning angle and Jimmy Boyd is all over it. Take advantage of another big win on Friday night by pounding my Big East Game of the Year.