Week 3 Big Ten Football Preview
Week two in the Big Ten was a wild ride. The fireworks started on Friday nighttime with Taulia Tagovailoa'due south v-touchdown performance in Maryland's overtime victory over Minnesota. They continued into Michigan Land'southward stunning victory over Michigan. After ii weeks, it is looking more and more similar this league is going to be tough to predict each week.
Let's have a look at the Week 3 matchups:
Michigan Country (i-ane) @ Iowa (0-two)
When/Where: Sat, November 7th, 12:00 PM @ Kinnick Stadium, Iowa City, IA
Lines*: Iowa -6.5, O/U 46
Michigan Country is coming off an incredible upset against rival Michigan while Iowa is looking to avoid an 0-three showtime for the first time since 2000.
Michigan Country quarterback Rocky Lombardi bounced back in a huge manner afterwards a rocky Week one operation, throwing for over 300 yards and three touchdowns. Wide receiver Ricky White also exploded for 196 yards and a touchdown, all against a solid Michigan defense. The Iowa defense was competent against Northwestern and put them in a position to win, but the Eagle criminal offence struggled.. It will be interesting to see which Ricky Lombardi shows upwardly this calendar week confronting the Hawkeyes.
The Iowa offense started off hot confronting Northwestern, jumping out to a 17-0 lead in the first quarter, but managed to add just 1 field goal the residual of the way. Quarterback Spencer Petras threw three interceptions and was forced to throw l times, non a great blueprint for success. Iowa desperately needs to get the running game going this calendar week against a Spartan defense that has been fairly stout confronting the run so far this yr.
Prediction: Michigan Land has momentum coming into this game while Iowa is reeling. However, I still recollect the Hawkeyes have the more talented roster and it volition show. 26-xx Iowa.
Nebraska (0-1) @ Northwestern (2-0)
When/Where: Saturday, Nov 7th, 12:00 PM @ Ryan Field, Evanston, IL
Lines: Northwestern -three.5, O/U 54.5
Northwestern (2-0) enters Week 3 undefeated while Nebraska comes off a goodbye calendar week as their game versus Wisconsin was cancelled due to COVID-xix.
Nebraska should exist well rested heading into this game, but the Huskers were non very competitive in their flavor-opening loss at Ohio State. They relied heavily on the run against the Buckeyes and were able to move the ball adequately well in the first half, merely fell apart afterwards halftime. Backup quarterback Luke McCaffery, was very impressive as a dual threat weapon and will probably be used heavily again this week. Northwestern's defense has allowed the 2nd fewest yards and points in the conference, so the Huskers are in for a tough test.
The Northwestern offense has been quite impressive through two weeks, even if the numbers don't show it. They are center of the pack in the Big X in both yardage and points. Still, they were dominant against Maryland and did just enough for a victory against Iowa. This is not an explosive unit, but led past running dorsum Isaiah Bowser, they are able to slow any game down and command the time of possession battle. Nebraska's defence force was helpless against Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields, just was impressive against the run, which creates an interesting matchup on Saturday.
Prediction: It'due south tough to judge Nebraska after only one game against the all-time team in the conference, but information technology's also tough to choice against the hot hand, especially when they're at dwelling. 27-23 Northwestern.
#23 Michigan (1-1) @ #13 Indiana (2-0)
When/Where: Saturday, Nov 7th, 12:00 PM @ Memorial Stadium, Bloomington, IN
Lines: Michigan -3, O/U 54
Michigan enters Week 3 off an embarrassing home loss to rival Michigan State while Indiana is coming off of their second straight win to open the season.
The Michigan offense, led by quarterback Joe Milton, put on a prove in Week 1 just took a step dorsum last week, as they rushed for 100 fewer yards, punted seven more times, and were much less efficient on 3rd downwards. Milton's stat sheet looked impressive, passing for 300 yards and rushing for 59 more. Notwithstanding, the Michigan offense never got into a rhythm confronting the Spartans. Indiana's defense looked susceptible confronting Penn Land in Week 1, but improved profoundly against the inferior Rutgers offense.
Indiana put up 37 points against Rutgers, but they were the beneficiaries of three Scarlet Knight interceptions. They are now the 4th highest scoring offense in the Large Ten, just have the 2nd fewest yards, which shows that they take relied on the field position boxing to win their games. Quarterback Michael Penix Jr. was solid confronting Rutgers, but shaky against Penn Country. It will be interesting to see how he performs against a Michigan defense that has underperformed expectations so far in 2020.
Prediction: I went with the hot hand with Northwestern before, but I'm going to ignore that strategy in this game. Michigan needs to bounciness back in a large fashion and I recall they practice. 31-21 Michigan.
Minnesota (0-2) @ Illinois (0-2)
When/Where: Saturday, November 7th, 3:30 PM @ Memorial Stadium, Champaign, IL
Lines: Minnesota -7, O/U 61.5
Minnesota is coming off of a heartbreaking 45-44 loss at Maryland while Illinois recently fell to Purdue, 31-24. Both teams accept lost back-to-back games.
Minnesota has had no trouble moving the ball by virtue of running back Mohamed Ibrahim, simply the passing game has lagged behind. Quarterback Tanner Morgan and receiver Rashod Bateman were a vaunted duo entering the 2022 season, simply have non lived up to the hype. The Gophers must get those two going this week. Illinois has been shredded by both Wisconsin and Purdue and so far this twelvemonth. Therefore information technology's a perfect opportunity for Minnesota to get their passing game working well once again.
Illinois was much more competitive against Purdue than they were against Wisconsin, but this is an offense that is not fundamentally sound. According to the Chicago Tribune, fourth-cord quarterback, Coran Taylor, got the phone call last week after starter Brandon Peters tested positive for COVID-nineteen, fill-in Isaiah Williams was quarantined, and third-stringer Matt Robinson suffered a leg injury. Taylor did non await terrible, but threw ii interceptions and the Illini fumbled twice. Minnesota'south defence force has been the worst in the Large 10 through ii weeks, then it will be interesting to run into if they tin bounce back against a quarterback with very piffling experience.
Prediction: It is clear that Minnesota is not the squad that the experts idea they were before the season, just I still think they concord a sizable advantage over Illinois. 45-33 Minnesota.
Maryland (1-1) @ Penn State (0-2)
When/Where: Saturday, November 7th, 3:xxx PM @ Beaver Stadium, University Park, PA
Lines: Penn State -25, O/U 64
Maryland is coming off a wild overtime win against Minnesota while Penn Country suffered their second directly loss against Ohio State.
Maryland's victory against Minnesota was a tremendous win for the programme and served as the coming out party for transfer quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa. He threw for 394 yards and scored v times, three in the air and twice on the ground. Tagovailoa scored what ended up beingness the game winning touchdown in overtime. Against Northwestern, the Maryland offense was dormant, only they take the weapons to score points, and it showed last Friday. The Penn Country defense force is looking for a bounceback game after giving up over 30 points to both Indiana and Ohio State, merely they'll run into a unit with a lot of confidence later last week.
Penn Country's battle against Ohio State went about as expected: they competed but but lacked the talent on crime to keep up with the Buckeyes. Quarterback Sean Clifford tossed 3 touchdowns simply the Nittany Lions rushed for only 44 yards, which is blameworthy on both game menstruation and a strong Ohio Country defensive forepart. Maryland'due south defense force has given upwardly the nigh rushing yards in the Large Ten, and so Penn State will have the opportunity to become back on the right rail this calendar week.
Prediction: Penn State is the huge favorite and is desperately in demand of a win, but Maryland could requite them a run for their coin if the offense plays similar it did in Week 2. I even so like the home squad in a must-win game. 44-27 Penn State.
Rutgers (1-1) @ #3 Ohio State (two-0)
When/Where: Sat, November 7th, vii:thirty PM @ Ohio Stadium, Columbus, OH
Lines: Ohio State -38, O/U 64
Rutgers enters Week three coming off a loss at Indiana, just has looked much more competitive than they have been in contempo years. Ohio State continued their authority of the Big Ten last calendar week against Penn State, who was arguably their greatest competitor.
Rutgers savage back down to earth final week after a season opening win confronting Michigan State, but they were fairly competitive against a very good Indiana team. They had but 247 yards of law-breaking, turned the ball over three times, and were a dismal three of 14 on fourth down. However, they were able to put upward 21 points and avert a blowout. Ohio State's defence poses a much tougher job than Indiana did though. Rutgers will have to jump on the Buckeyes early and oft if they desire to make this a competitive matchup.
Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields had another fantastic performance final calendar week, throwing for four touchdowns and finishing with a completion percentage of 82%. Receivers Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson both eclipsed 100 yards. The Buckeyes got the running game going as well with Master Teague finishing with 100 rushing yards. This law-breaking is a juggernaut and the but hope for an improving merely still developing, Rutgers defence is for Fields and company to take an off twenty-four hour period.
Prediction: Since Rutgers has joined the Big Ten, the Buckeyes are 6-0 confronting them with an average margin of victory of 46.5 points. Rutgers is on the right track, merely they are not in the same universe as Ohio State. 55-fourteen Ohio State.
Note: Purdue @ Wisconsin has been cancelled due to COVID-xix
*All lines from the William Hill Sportsbook
Source: http://wmucsports.net/week-3-big-ten-football-preview/
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