Illinois Fighting Illini vs Northwestern Wildcats, Wrigley Field, Chicago, IL
Saturday, November 20, 2010, 3:30 pm Eastern, TV: ESPNU
Opening Line: Illinois -7
Current Line: Illinois -8
Opening Total: 49
Current Total: 48
Money Line: Illinois -320 / Northwestern +270

Illinois is 5-5 and Northwestern is 7-3. These two long time rivals are middle of the road teams in the Big 10. Yet this game is garnering national interest not really because of the teams involved but because of the of the venue the game is being played. For the first time since 1938 Chicago’s hallowed Wrigley Field will host a college football game. The cramped confines of Wrigley make for an interesting configuration and some odd ground rules. The East end zone is only a few feet away from the famed ivy covered brick outfield wall. Extra padding was added to wall. The goal post in that end zone is actually bolted to the wall instead of being on the field as usual. On Friday, the Big Ten announced that both teams will only use the west end zone for safety concerns. The only time the east end zone will come into play is on interceptions or fumble returns. It will be interesting to see how punts are handled and if marking the ball will cause some delays. Illinois will occupy the west team bench in the first half and Northwestern will occupy it during the second half and potential overtime periods as a result of a coin toss. Northwestern is listed as the home team, but it is really a neutral site game. Northwestern is  8-2 ATS in the last 10 meetings versus Illinois, including the last 2 meetings. Both of those games have gone under the total as well.

Illinois can become bowl eligible if they win their last two games against Northwestern and at Fresno St. The Illini have lost 2 games in a row in heartbreaking fashion. They lost at Michigan in triple overtime 67-65 on a missed two point conversion. Last week they lost at home to Big ten bottom feeder Minnesota 38-34 despite having a 10 point lead with 8 minutes to go in the game. That loss really hurt their chances at going to a bowl. Illinois is outscoring their opponents 31-24 on average and gain 367 yards a game including just over 200 yards rushing. The Illinois defense only gives up 345 yards a game including only 133 yards rushing per game. Illinois has a turnover ratio of +4. The offense is led by quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase. Scheelhaase only throws for 160 yards a game but he does have 15 passing touchdowns and only 7 picks. Scheelhaase also has  3 rushing touchdowns, along with 587 rushing yards on 133 carries. The top receiver for Illinois is A.J. Jenkins (40 catches, 595 yards, 5 touchdown catches.) Nine Illini receivers have at least one touchdown catch. The top rusher for the Illini is Mikel LeShoure who has 200 catches for 1,041 yards and 11 touchdown runs. He also has 14 catches, 3 of them for touchdowns.

Northwestern is bowl eligible but will have to play without quarterback Dan Persa. Persa ruptured his Achilles tendon in the Wildcats 21-17 upset over Iowa last week. Redshirt Freshman Evan Watkins takes over behind center. The Wildcats have said the game plan will not change much despite that Watkins has only thrown 7 passes all season. Watkins is 5 inches taller than Persa so that might affect his timing with the receivers and on handoffs to the running backs. Persa was the team’s leading rusher and Watkins 245 pound frame might not be as fast as Persa. Watkins had said he has no problem taking off and running if he has to. The Wildcats only rush for 145 yards a game but will lean on running back Mike Trumpy until Watkins gets comfortable in the offense. Trumpy has 103 carries 401 yards, and 2 touchdowns. Jacob Schmidt only has 161 rushing yards but does have 4 touchdowns. He could be dangerous if Illinois doesn’t pay attention to him. Jeremy Ebert (54 catches, 849 yards,  and 8 TD catches) and Drake Dunsmore (36 catches, 339 yards, and 4 touchdown catches) are the Wildcats’ leading receivers. The Wildcats are outscoring opponents 26-21 and giving up 387 yards a game. Northwestern has a turnover margin of +6 and have forced 17 sacks. The Wildcats struggle to protect the quarterback as the give up 3.5 sacks a game. They also give up more than 60 penalty yards a game and have converted only 12 out of 19 field goal attempts.

Game time temps will be in the low 40’s with a 10 percent chance of rain and up to 20 mile an hour winds. It will be interesting to see how the young Quarterback Evan Watkins reacts to the pressure of making his first career start against the Wildcats’ arch rival at arguably one of the most famous sporting venues in the world. ESPN is even bringing their show College Gameday to Chicago despite higher profile games going on though out the nation, Ohio St- Iowa, Virginia Tech-Miami, and Nebraksa-Texas A&M.

Check our 20 unit college football play of the year. We have this game and plenty of other winners up and waiting. The weather is getting colder but our handicappers are still red hot.