Rutgers football week 3: The first Big Ten conference game

It doesn't matter that the Big Ten is hurting as the top dogs failed to represent last Saturday. Both Rutgers and Penn State are undefeated heading into this one, and the winner will be 3-0 with one conference win for a head start in the division race. It's also the first B1G game for Rutgers. It's against Coach Hype. It's what we've all been waiting for.

The Scarlet Knights took care of business at Washington State and in a tune-up against Howard. Coach Flood did all he could to keep his players focused, but it was impossible for them to look ahead to this game. Most of the time, players will emulate coach speak when talking about their opponents. Not so for the team from Pennsylvania:

"I've never been more excited to play a game. I feel like this is the game everybody wanted to see, the end all be all. Once we win this game, we'll have a lot of respect." - WR Leonte Carroo

I think if you pressed further, Carroo might have offered a score prediction with his strong words for the visiting team. I don't think enough hyperbole can be used to hype this game.

Profile

Penn State Nittany Lions (2-0) Last week: Won v. Akron, 21-3

2013 Record: 7-5 (4-4 B1G)

Head Coach: James Franklin (26-15 overall, 2-0 Penn State)

Location: State College, PA

Series: 2-22

Broadcast Info

Saturday, September 13 - 8:00 PM

Channel: Big Ten Network

Forecast: Tailgating - High of 73 degrees, partly cloudy clearing up in the afternoon through evening, 0% chance of precipitation; Kickoff - Clear, 66 degrees

Game Links

Knowing your enemy: Penn State Nittany Lions - Looking back on what we expected from PSU.

Why Flood calls them "the team from Pennsylvania" - Keith Sargeant of the Star-Ledger delves into the origin of CHOP Nation's nickname for Penn State.

Remembering the 1988 win - Members of Rutgers' 1988 team (which, coincidentally, was the last season that Ohio State, Michigan, and Michigan State all lost on the same day) reminisce about the win against Penn State.

A tale of two brothers - The connection between former PSU defensive lineman Jared Odrick, and his half-brother Julian Pinnix-Odrick, current Rutgers defensive lineman.

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With all the hype this game brings, many fans had questions regarding tailgating policies. The official policy from Rutgers is that lots open five hours prior to kickoff. What does that mean for people looking to get to lots before that time? It looks like the university answered that question before the Howard matchup ended:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>No specific mention of Penn St but clearly Rutgers scoreboard operator already looking ahead to next week <a href="http://t.co/c04OXcjSGh">pic.twitter.com/c04OXcjSGh</a></p>&mdash; Keith Sargeant (@KSargeantNJ) <a href="https://twitter.com/KSargeantNJ/status/508301124462718976">September 6, 2014</a></blockquote>

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Only five days until B1G football.