Rutgers Scarlet Knights vs. Wake Forest Demon Deacons: Betting Guide

This is a rescheduled version of the Gator Bowl. Texas A&M was originally supposed to play Wake Forest but ran into COVID-19 complications. Rutgers was both available and willing to play as a fill-in for A&M in this long-established bowl game, which began in 1946 and has been a fixture on the bowl landscape, often bringing high-quality teams to the college football postseason.

• Game: Rutgers (5-7) vs. Wake Forest (10-3)
• Location: TIAA Bank Field (Jacksonville)
• Day/Time: Friday, December 31 – 11:00 a.m. ET
• Television: ESPN

The Scarlet Knights were handled by Maryland, 40-16. Maryland was not an especially strong team this year, but as you noticed in its Pinstripe Bowl blowout of Virginia Tech, Maryland was good at taking care of weak teams, and Rutgers was generally a weak team in 2021. The Scarlet Knights did play Michigan closely, but as the season wore on, that performance was more of an aberration than an indicator. Rutgers had absolutely no answer for Ohio State or Penn State or Wisconsin, in addition to the blowout loss to Maryland and another big loss to Michigan State (by 18). Rutgers also lost by 14 to Northwestern, a team which wasn’t very good. The Rutgers offense struggled mightily over the course of the season. It couldn’t really find any rhythm or consistency from week to week. This is something head coach Greg Schiano will try to develop in the bowl game, providing a springboard into the 2022 college football season.

The Scarlet Knights thought they were done with their season, but when they got the invitation to play in a bowl game, they jumped at the chance. They have a clean bill of health, having not played since late November. Whether they will be sharp, having not had the normal set of bowl practices due to being called to play at the last minute, is another matter altogether.

Wake Forest traded touchdowns with Pittsburgh in the first 20 explosive minutes of the ACC Championship Game. Wake scored 21 points in those first 20 minutes, but then the Deacons fell completely silent on offense. They didn’t score for the rest of the game after their early flurry and fell 45-21 to the Panthers and Heisman Trophy finalist Kenny Pickett. It was still a great season for Wake Forest, which won the ACC Atlantic Division championship for the second time in school history, the first since 2006. Quarterback Sam Hartman led a high-powered Wake Forest offense, riding momentum to a 10-win regular season under head coach Dave Clawson. Wake Forest overachieved, stopping Clemson’s streak of six straight division titles.

Betting on the Game

With Rutgers being a 5-7 team which has not had a full complement of bowl practices, Wake Forest looks like a very attractive choice, even with the large point spread. Rutgers is simply not in the best position to play a quality, high-level game.