Northwestern at Indiana

Written by Steve Janus

This Saturday the Northwestern Wildcats will look to bounce back from a tough loss at home against Michigan State when they go on the road to take on the Indiana Hoosiers in Big Ten action. The Wildcats blew a 10 point lead twice against the Spartans, before finally losing 35-27, while the Hoosiers were blown out on the road by Illinois 43-13. The home team is 8-1 in this series since 1997, including Northwestern’s amazing 25-point come from behind win last year. If you are looking to bet on the game this weekend, the current college football odds have the Wildcats favored by 3-points over the Hoosiers on the road.

Northwestern 5-2, 1-2 Big Ten): It really looked as though the Wildcats were going to ruin the Spartans perfect season, as they held a 24-14 lead going into the final period of play. The Spartans opening drive of the fourth quarter appeared to be for nothing after they called a time out and took a five yard penalty to set up a punt, but instead for the second time this season they completed a fake punt and went on to score a touchdown later in the drive. It was the turning point of the game, as the Wildcats couldn’t get anything going after that play.

Quarterback Dan Persa really played well and gave the Spartans defense trouble, as he completed 18 of 29 attempts for 187 yards and added another 46 yards and three touchdowns on the ground. Persa’s did throw an interception late in the fourth that sealed the win for the Spartans. The defense wound up giving up 457 yards of total offense, and just couldn’t stop the air attack of Michigan State late in the game.

It will be interesting to see how the Wildcats respond after the tough loss, as they have a very winnable game against Indiana on the table, but if they don’t come ready to go they could easily lose this game.

Indiana (4-3, 0-3 Big Ten): The Hoosiers will be looking for their first conference win of the season this week, but they can’t play like they did against Illinois and expect this game to even be close. The Hoosiers turned the ball over five times against the Fighting Illini, and that was the deciding factor.

The Hoosiers actually outgained Illinois 388 to 289 in total yards, but a big reason for that was the short field the Fighting Illini were given throughout the game. Once again the majority of the Hoosiers offense came in the passing game, as they threw for 279 yards, and come in averaging nearly 314 yards a game, but it doesn’t matter how many yards you throw for if you keep turning the ball over. Quarterback Ben Chappell has already thrown for 2,137 yards and 17 touchdowns, but has thrown six interceptions in just three conference games this season. If the Hoosiers protect the football, I think they have a great shot at coming away with the win this week against a struggling Northwestern team.

Looking at the Odds: I really like the Hoosiers at +3 in this one, as I think they are going to be able to score point for point with the Wildcats, and could possibly open this game up if they keep from making too many mistakes. It is going to be hard for the Wildcats to bring that same intensity that they displayed last week at home against Michigan State, while Indiana heads home where they have only loss once all season. My final score prediction is Indiana 38, Northwestern 34.

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