The Nittany Lions will hit the road for the second time in three weeks, but this time they will not have to board a plane to cross the Atlantic Ocean. Instead, they will take the short trip across the Pennsylvania/New Jersey border as they open up BIG 10 play against the Scarlet Knights of Rutgers University (8 p.m. ET, BTN)

The match-up with the first year BIG 10 member will renew a rivalry that started back in 1918. The Nittany Lions and Scarlet Knights have met a total of 24 times, with Penn State leading the series 22-2. The two teams last played in 1995.The game at High Point Solutions Stadium will be Penn State's first true U.S. road test and after this one Nittany Lions' fans should have an understanding about what kind-of a team they will be cheering for in 2014. There's nothing like a conference opener at night on the road to test the toughness of a football team. Basically, I think this game can either setup further success or send them down a rough road, so obviously they want to come out of Piscataway with a "W."When you're on the road you must be clicking on all cylinders and an aspect of Penn State's offensive arsenal that must improve this week is the run game. The Nittany Lions are averaging a dismal and I mean dismal 2.8 yards per carry. That will not get the job done in the BIG 10 and sooner or later it's going to come back to haunt them.The only success Penn State had in the run game last week against Akron was from the "wildcat" formation. The offensive line has to find a way to get some explosion or enough push to give Bill Belton, Zach Zwinak, and Akeel Lynch a crease to run through.One thing I certainly don't understand about Penn State's rushing attack is why Akeel Lynch isn't the starting running back? I honestly don't get it and I would never imagine to think I know more about the game of football than any college head football coach. There must be something they see at practice or on film or something that merits why Lynch doesn't play more. All I know is what I have seen and that is he has a gear that Belton and Zwinak don't have. I also think he possesses a more balanced amount of speed, agility, and power than Belton and Zwinak. Belton has speed and agility, but less power, while Zwinak is all power. I just think after two weeks of struggling to run the football that a change is in order and who knows, maybe we'll see one this week.It needs to happen because as the past has shown this year Christian Hackenberg will make mistakes, much like any sophomore quarterback will. When you depend so much on the passing game like PSU has done this season then your quarterback may tend to force the issue a bit. It's evident that Hackenberg is confident and believes he can fit the ball in where sometimes he just needs to just throw it away.With that being said, he has been PSU's golden boy on the offensive side of the ball, throwing for 386.5 yards per game with four touchdowns and four interceptions. He ranks fourth nationally in yards passing per game and second with 12 throws of 20-plus yards and second with four throws of 40-plus. He's playing well, but he needs a running game to help make the play-action game more effective.One last point about the offense is that they need to put more points on the board. 23.5 points per game is not good enough and it's important to score more touchdowns in the red zone, rather than always settling for field goals.The defense on the other hand has been doing its job in the scoring department, allowing just 13.5 points per game. The defense ranks 23rd in the nation and third in the BIG 10 in scoring defense.The PSU "D" also didn't give up any big plays to Akron last week, holding them to just three points. They will certainly be tested in that department this week as the Rutgers offense has scored five touchdowns of 30-plus yards. Rutgers also has the highest scoring offense in the BIG 10, scoring 39.5 points per game.Rutgers has athletes that will test the Penn State "D." Senior quarterback Gary Nova has been "Mr. Proficient" for the Scarlet Knights, completing 67 percent of his passes and throwing for 563 yards with six touchdowns and just one interception.Running back Paul James is very talented. He leads the conference in scoring with four rushing touchdowns and two receiving touchdowns. He has also rushed for 216 yards at 5.1 yards per carry.Lastly, wide receiver Leonte Caroo is also a guy the PSU secondary will need to keep an eye on. Caroo has 195 yards receiving on the season with two touchdowns. He's averaging a little over 24 yards per catch.James is by far the most talented running back that Penn State will face up to this point and we'll get to see how its front four and linebackers play defending the run. The Nittany Lions have only given up 43.5 rushing yards per contest and Rutgers averages 162 per game, so it will be interesting to see how they handle the Scarlet Knights rushing attack.Penn State's front four of C.J. Olaniyan, Anthony Zettel, Austin Johnson, and Deion Barnes have been pretty impressive so far and are the strongest part of its defense. I would expect the same to continue later tonight and I think that can be the difference in the ball game. If they can get constant pressure on Nova and company then I believe they should have yet another successful effort defensively.Obviously, an added bonus to this week's game is the fact that Penn State can now compete for a spot in a bowl game and a BIG 10 Championship. Even though the coaching staff won't admit it, each game just got more important for the Nittany Lions. Meaning, a loss to Rutgers could hamper their hopes of getting to a bowl game and I think that's something Penn State fans would like to see this season.The spread on this week's game is Penn State -3.5. I'll take Penn State 31, Rutgers 21.