The Illinois Fighting Illini travel north to take on the Wisconsin Badgers in college football action on Saturday. The game is scheduled for a noon start time and it will be televised nationally on ESPN2. Currently the odds for the game have Wisconsin favored by more than three touchdowns.
Wes Lunt won't play in this game as he fractured his fibula and will miss more than a month. The sophomore has a pretty bright future if he can stay healthy, but Illinois won't be able to use him in this one.
Wisconsin was upset last week by Northwestern in Evanston. The Badgers turned the football over four times in that game, with three interceptions coming inside the red zone. They out-gained the Wildcats, but couldn't string together first downs as they had problems hanging onto the football and were poor in third down conversions as well. The Wildcats are really playing good football, having won three straight and giving Wisconsin their first conference loss of the season.
Melvin Gordon leads the Badger running attack with an average of 8.3 yards per carry and nine scores. Wisconsin averages better than 331 yards on the ground per game, with Corey Clement providing them with a very solid backup option that also sees a lot of time on the field.
The quarterback position for Wisconsin hasn't been great as Joel Stave and Tanner McEvoy have both struggled this season. Lunt, on the other hand, had thrown the ball all over the field for the Illini, but they now have to rely on their backup in Reilly O'Toole, a senior that has started a few games in his career and does have some good experience. But as a whole, Illinois isn't going to be good enough to win this game even if they catch some breaks in the turnover battle.
Wisconsin had scored 20 points in 17 straight games until last week, but the Wildcats snapped that streak for them. Expect that number to start up again as the Badgers will roll this game on the ground and pound Illinois.
Free Pick: Wisconsin 41, Illinois 17
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