No. 24 Illinois and Rutgers are climbing the Big Ten ladder heading into Saturday’s showdown

PISCATAWAY, N.J. (AP) — After years of being at the bottom of the Big Ten Conference, No. 24 Illinois and Rutgers are going in the right direction under Bret Bielema and Greg Schiano with the season entering its final two weeks.

The Illini (7-3, 4-3, No. 25 CFP) and Rutgers (6-4, 3-4) are both bowl eligible heading into Saturday’s game at SHI Stadium, and both have a lot at stake.

Illinois has had an exceptional season, especially considering two of its losses have been to No. 1 Oregon and No. 4 Penn State. If it can beat the Scarlet Knights and Northwestern in the final two games, the Illini will post its first nine-win season and likely get a bid to a prestigious bowl game.

Bielema’s team is ranked in the College Football Poll for only the second time. The other time was in 2022 for two weeks.

“The fact of the matter is we have an unbelievable opportunity in front of us with Rutgers to put ourselves in a position with two games remaining to have a lot to play for,” Bielema said. “It’s pretty awesome.”

Rutgers is in the same position in what has been a rollercoaster season. It opened with four straight wins, followed by four losses and now two wins. The Scarlet Knights have never had a three-game winning streak in conference play since joining the Big Ten in 2014. They have never won four league games in a season.

The fact this game is on Senior Day is not lost on Schiano, who started his second tour at the New Jersey university in 2020, taking over a program that had nine wins overall in the previous four years.

“This group is a special group,” Schiano said. “If you think back to when they decided to come to Rutgers, they had a huge leap of faith. Let’s call it what it was, we were probably the worst Power 5 football program in America at the time.”

Rutgers is in line to make its third bowl appearance in the last five years, including one as a replacement team in COVID-19 season.

It’s progress for both schools.

NFL receiver room

Schiano said Illinois has an NFL group of wide outs, led by Pat Bryant and Zakhari Franklin. Bryant has 43 catches for 717 yards and eight touchdowns. He is averaging 14.5 yards. Franklin has 48 catches for 559 yards and three TDs, with an 11.7-yard average.

Rutgers has one of the top secondaries in the conference with cornerback Robert Longerbeam and Erik Rogers at the cornerbacks and Shaquan Loyal, Flip Dixon and Kaj Sanders at the safeties.

The defending Big Ten rushing champion

Kyle Monangai ranks 11th nationally and second in the Big Ten, averaging 114.2 yards rushing. He ranks 15th nationally and second in the league with 12 rushing touchdowns. The New Jersey high school star ranks ninth nationally and first in the Big Ten with 197 carries. Monangai has no career fumbles (610 carries, 35 receptions). He has rushed for 1,028 yards and has scored a touchdown in 7 of 9 games played. He is the first Rutgers player since Ray Rice (2005-07) with consecutive 1,000 yard seasons.

Special teams

Bielema said he started preparing to face the Rutgers punt block team three weeks ago. That’s not ordinary.

Rutgers has blocked 73 kicks (43 punts, 17 field goals, 13 extra points) under Schiano, including 15 games with multiple blocks. The Scarlet Knights lead the nation with 10 blocked punts over the previous three seasons.

Sack City

Illinois had five sacks in its win over Michigan State this past weekend. It leads the Big Ten, averaging 3.14. Outside linebacker Gabe Jacas is tied for the conference lead with seven sacks. Rutgers’ line needs to protect quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis to win.

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AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll