There are a lot of things riding on this evening's Rutgers game against Arkansas.
Aside from the national audience - the game is being broadcast on ESPNU with kickoff scheduled for 7:02 p.m. - in the Scarlet Knights' first-ever meeting with the Razorbacks, a victory here gives the Rutgers squad their first 4-0 start since 2006 and an opportunity to gain legitimate national notoriety.
Coming off a solid 23-13 victory over USF last Thursday, the Scarlet Knights have had a long nine days to prepare for their matchup against a reeling Arkansas team.
Following a 49-24 triumph over Jacksonville State in the first week of the season, the Razorbacks became the butt of an upset joke as Lousiana-Monroe topped them 34-31 in overtime.
Another loss to SEC rival last week and suddenly Arkansas finds themselves out of the national rankings and facing a 1-2 record going into their game with Rutgers tonight.
"Yeah, I don't know, per se, what the mood is in their locker room," said Rutgers coach Kyle Flood. "I'm sure their approach would be much like ours, they want to be 1-0 this week."
With so much going wrong for the Razorbacks, the Scarlet Knights are hoping to take advantage of the miscues, as they try to extend a well rounded offensive showing from last week's league victory.
For the first time all season, Rutgers not only ran the ball well, paced by sophomore back Jawan Jamison, but found a consistent passing game in first-year starting quarterback Gary Nova.
Expect the Scarlet Knights to give Nova almost complete control of the offense, as the sophomore continues to gain confidence with each snap.
On the injury side of the ball, Rutgers will most likely be without sophomore running back Savon Huggins, who did not practice earlier this week. Should Huggins be held out of this evening's matchup, expect Jamison to rack up another 40+ carries in this game.
"I absolutely think he could do it and I think certainly playing the ten-day window hopes a little bit," Flood said of Jamison's potential back-to-back rushing dominance.
For the Razorbacks there is a bit of relief this weekend from the myriad of missteps thus far this season; senior quarterback Tyler Wilson has been officially cleared for the start tonight.
After missing last week's game, Wilson's return might just be the spark Arkansas needs in order to compete. In his first two games, Wilson 563 yards in the air with just one interception and five touchdown passes.
"So that's very exciting," said Arkansas coach John L. Smith. "We're thankful that he i (playing)s. I know our football team is excited about that, as are we as coaches, and I know the fans will be excited as well. The players are fired up about having him out there and bringing that energy and being that vocal person that we need."
As of Saturday morning the line for tonight's matchup gave a 10-point edge to Arkansas, but there's more than just bets on the line for both of these teams.
Each squad needs this win, so expect a solid effort on both sides of the ball, and the chance to go one up on the other in the prospective beginnings of a brand-new rivalry.