College football week 8 and the Nebraska Cornhuskers will travel to Ryan Field in Evanston, Illinois to take on the Northwestern Wildcats. The game has a start time of 7:30 pm (Eastern) and will be televised on Big 10 Network. Current Vegas odds have the Cornhuskers listed as 6.5 point favorites, while the total is set at 54.
Analysis: The Nebraska Cornhuskers come in with a 5-1 record on the year, which includes a 1-1 record on the road. That road loss was vs Michigan State, who just may be the best team in the Big 10. The Cornhuskers are 5-0 ATS in their last 5 road games and 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games in October. Ameer Abdullah is the star of this offense as he has run for 878 yards with 10 TDs, while also having 130 yards receiving and 2 more TDs. Tommy Armstrong has been decent behind center as he has thrown for 1325 yards and 10 TDs, while also rushing for 427 yards and 2 more TDs. Overall this offense ranks 10th in total yards, 75th in passing, 6th in rushing and 12th in scoring (41.5 ppg). The defense for the Cornhuskers has been decent as they rank 33rd in yards allowed, h8 th vs the pass, 33 rd vs the run and 28 th in points allowed (20.3 ppg).
The Northwestern Wildcats have had an up and down year so far as they started out 0-2 and then won 3 in a row before suffering a 7 point loss at Minnesota last week. They are 2-2 at home, with one of their wins being a 20-14 decision over Wisconsin two weeks ago. The Cats are 3-0 ATS in this series, but are also 1-6 ATS before playing Iowa. The Cats are led by Trevor Siemian, who has thrown for 1323 yards and 4 TDs, but also has 5 INTs on the year. Justin Jackson is a converted LB who has done a nice job out of the backfield, leading the team in rushing with 502 yards, while also having 103 yards receiving and 3 TDs combined. The Cats are a weak offensive team that ranks 105th in total yards, 69th in passing, 107th in rushing and 107th in scoring (21.5 ppg), while the defense has been very solid, ranking 44th in yards allowed, 37th vs the pass, 55th vs the run and 11th in points allowed (17.5 ppg).
Pick: I will be going with the Wildcats to pull the upset here. This has been a tight series as he last 3 meetings have all been decided by a FG or less and the Cats have been playing much better than the start that put them at 0-2 out the gate. They have won 3 of their last 4 games, which includes a 20-14 win over Wisconsin on this same field. Nebraska has had a nice start this year, but really who have they played. They beat Miami by 10 and lost to Michigan State on the road by 5 points. The rest of their schedule has consisted of FAU/ McNeese State (who they struggled with), Fresno State and Illinois. Not murderers row by any stretch. The Cats play very good defense and Nebraska had problems moving the Ball on the only good defense they have played this year, in Michigan State. The Husker defense isn’t all that great and I feel that Northwestern will score enough to keep the game close, and maybe even outright. I look for the Cats to pull another upset here or at the very least this should be another game decided by a FG or less.
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