Time: 3:30 PM EST, Saturday
Spread: MICH -25
Total: 49
M/L: MICH -2500, ILL +1500
Odds from Bookmaker
Michigan rebounded from a tough loss to Notre Dame by stomping Purdue last week, 44-13. Denard Robinson returned to form after struggling badly against the Fighting Irish two weeks ago. In the victory over the Boilermakers, he rushed 24 times for 235 yards and threw for a TD. He threw only 15 passes, but connected on 8 of them, and didn’t throw any interceptions for the first time this season.
The one man attack should be enough against Illinois, as college football oddsmakers pick the Michigan Denards (more appropriate?) to win by 25. The Fighting Illini are just 2-4 this season and have lost both their Big Ten match ups. Their defense hasn’t been particularly effective, ranking near the bottom of the nation, giving up 28.3 points per game. If not for shutting out Charleston Southern, it would be far worse, as they have given up 163 points in their four losses to Arizona State, Louisiana Tech, Penn State and Wisconsin.
If having a bad defense wasn’t enough, the Fighting Illini offense isn’t worth much either. They average 212.3 passing yards per game and 126.5 rushing yards per game, which accounts for 21.2 points per contest (103rd in the nation). This one likely won’t be close at all, and could be an even bigger blowout than expected by NCAA football point spreads.
Robinson should look to run as much as possible (as usual) and exploit the weak Illinois defense. Robinson has ran for over 200 yards now in two of the Wolverines’s five games, and save a poor performance against Alabama on September 1st, he’s been absolutely dominant—against mediocre opponents. This week should be no different.
Illinois Betting Trends:
Fighting Illini are 12-4 ATS in their last 16 following an ATS loss, 1-4 ATS in their last 5 conference games, 1-4 ATS in their last 5 vs teams with winning records, 1-4 ATS in their last 5 overall.
Michigan Betting Trends:
Wolverines are 6-1-1 ATS in their last 8 after accumulating less than 170 passing yards, 4-1 ATS vs teams with losing records, 5-2 ATS in their last 7 home games, 8-24 ATS in their last 32 conference games, and 1-6 ATS in their last 7 after scoring 40+ the previous game.
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