Week 7 Big Ten Football Preview
Nosotros are now inbound the home stretch of the Big 10 regular flavor. The league has struggled to handle the pandemic in the past few weeks as nearly every team in the league has had a game cancelled due to the coronavirus. However, the league is pushing through and nosotros are only two weeks away from crowning a champion.
Let's have a look at the Week vii matchups:
No. 4 Ohio Country (four-0) @ Michigan State (2-iii)
When/Where: Saturday, December 5th, 12:00 PM @ Spartan Stadium, East Lansing, MI
Lines*: Ohio State -23.5, O/U 59.five
Ohio State'south game against Illinois last calendar week was cancelled and the Buckeyes are expected to be without at least a few starters. Michigan State is coming off of a huge upset against previously undefeated No.16 Northwestern.
Ohio State's terminal game against Indiana was not a breeze. Quarterback Justin Fields had his worst game of the year, throwing three interceptions. Notwithstanding, the Buckeyes were able to run the ball for 307 yards and 3 touchdowns. They put upward 42 points against Indiana, simply struggled to put the game away belatedly. There shouldn't be besides much business organisation among Buckeye fans though, as this is notwithstanding the well-nigh impressive criminal offence in the Big Ten. Michigan Land's defense force has had a few solid performances, but gives up an average of 31 points a game. Expect Fields to have a bounce back game and the rest of the Buckeye offense to take no problems.
Michigan State'southward shocking upset against Northwestern was not due to impressive quarterback play. Rocky Lombardi was just 11-27 for 167 yards, but the Spartans pieced together enough scoring drives to compliment a solid defensive effort and come away with a win. Teams have been able to score confronting Ohio Land this twelvemonth, which could be attributed to the fact that they've established large leads due to their offensive explosiveness.
Prediction: We'll see how many key players Ohio Country is actually missing, but regardless, they have enough depth across the board to take care of business organisation. 38-10 Ohio State.
Nebraska (1-4) @ Purdue (ii-3)
When/Where: Saturday, December 5th, 12:00 PM @ Ross-Ade Stadium, West Lafayette, IN
Lines: Purdue -1, O/U 62.5
Both of these teams are coming off of tough, i score losses. Nebraska was bested by Iowa while Purdue suffered their third straight loss, to Rutgers.
Nebraska head coach Scott Frost'southward seat must exist feeling very warm later his team fell to 1-iv this past calendar week. The Huskers went back to quarterback Adrian Martinez last week after Luke McCaffrey's three-interception performance confronting Illinois. Nebraska's lack of continuity on offense has really hurt their power to compete in the Big 10 this season. Purdue'southward defence has actually been ane of the better units in the league this year, just has struggled mightily in its terminal two games confronting two poor offenses in Minnesota and Rutgers.
Purdue's starting quarterback Aidan O'Connell is out for the season with a foot injury, and so the squad has had to rely on Jack Plummer to fill the position. The Plummer-led criminal offense has put up 30 points in dorsum-to-back weeks, but Purdue has as well dropped two games in a row. However, the Boilermakers have battled some questionable officiating the last couple of weeks. . Nebraska'south defence force will have the run a risk to redeem itself against an inexperienced quarterback and an offense that has had a few players opt out recently.
Prediction: Both of these teams are reeling, merely I fear that Scott Frost has lost control of this Nebraska team while every game Purdue has played has been close. 35-31 Purdue.
Penn Land (1-5) @ Rutgers (two-4)
When/Where: Saturday, December 5th, 12:00 PM @ SHI Stadium, Piscataway, NJ
Lines: Penn Land -eleven.five, O/U 52.5
Going into this flavour, no one could've predicted that through six weeks, Rutgers would take a amend briefing record than Penn State, but here we are. Penn State finally got its first win final week against Michigan while Rutgers defeated Purdue by a touchdown.
Penn Country had been going back and forth between quarterbacks Sean Clifford and Will Levis, but coach James Franklin stuck with Clifford for the whole game confronting Michigan. Clifford did not take to exercise much through the air equally Penn Land's ground game finally got rolling to the tune of 254 yards. The Nittany Lions also did non plow the ball over in one case, something that had been plaguing them in games by. They will confront a Rutgers defense that has given up the most points in the Large X this year.
Rutgers starting quarterback Noah Vedral was injured for their matchup with Purdue, but the Cherry-red Knights crime did non miss a crush. Backup Fine art Sitkowski threw the majority of passes and finished with 152 yards and two touchdowns. Johnny Langan as well picked up some work with 84 yards on simply three passes while adding 95 yards on the footing. If Vedral is healthy, he will commencement, according to coach Greg Schiano, but no matter who is taking the snaps, Rutgers is in capable hands. Rutgers' fifth-ranked law-breaking will match up with a Penn State defense that has given upward over 30 points in every game except for ane: last week'due south win at Michigan.
Prediction: Rutgers is going to requite Penn State quite the fight, but I call back the Nittany Lions will build off of their momentum from final week'south win. 38-34 Penn State.
No. 12 Indiana (5-i) @ No. 16 Wisconsin (two-i)
When/Where: Saturday, Dec fifth, 3:30 PM @ Campsite Randall Stadium, Madison, WI
Lines: Wisconsin -fourteen, O/U 45
Indiana beat Maryland handily terminal week merely took a huge blow, losing star quarterback Michael Penix Jr. to injury for the rest of the season. Wisconsin had yet another game cancelled against rival Minnesota.
Indiana's offense got off to a very tiresome start last week and really had to lean on the running game to move the ball. Penix's replacement, Jack Tuttle, was able to move the ball but only threw five passes in express action. Information technology will be interesting to see how Tuttle performs as the starter against a tough Wisconsin defence force. Indiana receivers Ty Fryfogle and Whop Philyor both had their worst games of the season against the Terrapins, combining for only four catches and 34 yards. Tuttle volition desperately demand those 2 to be playmakers for him because Wisconsin has one of the best run defenses in the Large 10.
Wisconsin quarterback Graham Mertz had his first bad game of the season 2 weeks ago against Northwestern. Mertz threw three interceptions, leading the Badgers to only seven points the whole game. Wisconsin struggled to convert on third downs, going just three/16, and shot themselves in the pes with viii penalties against the Wildcats. They'll face an Indiana defense coming off of their best performance of the season. Despite that strong defensive performance, Indiana was against a Maryland team coming off a two-calendar week hiatus in addition to missing several offensive starters.
Prediction: Nosotros volition learn a lot about Indiana as they go into boxing without their star quarterback, but this is withal a very proficient football squad that is well-coached. I was surprised at the 14-signal line, just I still like Wisconsin to win at dwelling house. 27-xvi Wisconsin.
No. nineteen Iowa (4-2) @ Illinois (2-3)
When/Where: Sabbatum, December 5th, iii:30 PM @ Memorial Stadium, Champaign, IL
Lines: Iowa -13.5, O/U 51
Iowa is coming off of a six-point victory against Nebraska while Illinois' game confronting Ohio Land was cancelled, only the Illini have won two games in a row.
Iowa has been one of the hottest teams in the Big Ten, winning their concluding four games by an boilerplate margin of 24 points. Their offense is not overwhelming, but competent quarterback play from Spencer Petras and a solid rushing attack led by Tyler Goodson has allowed the Hawkeyes to control the game flow each week. The Illinois defense has shown massive improvement over the by two weeks subsequently a rough start to the season. However, Iowa will be 1 of the toughest matchups they've had this year as the Illini take been one of the worst defenses against the run in the conference.
Starting quarterback Brandon Peters returned from the COVID list in Illinois' terminal game confronting Nebraska and completely inverse the way the offense looked. They did non turn the ball over, dominated time of possession, and were very efficient on third down. The Illini will still rely on the run to movement the ball, but Peters brings a sense of stability that was not there in his absence. Unfortunately for them, Iowa is a top-3 defense in the Big Ten by any metric this season.
Prediction: Illinois has shown much comeback after their first three losses, only might be in for a rough twenty-four hour period against a very confident Iowa squad. 31-14 Iowa.
Annotation: Maryland-Michigan & Minnesota-Northwestern have been cancelled due to COVID-19
*All lines from William Hill Sportsbook
Source: http://wmucsports.net/week-7-big-ten-football-preview/
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