It has been a nice first season for the Brady Hoke crew in Ann Arbour. \u00a0They beat Notre Dame and should qualify for a bowl game that will give them a respite from the Michigan winter cold. <\/p>\n
Wolverines vs. Fighting Illini Michigan<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0Last week they lost at Iowa and now they are on the road again visiting an Illinois team that is desperate to stop the bleeding. \u00a0This group needs to finish strong but their schedule is backloaded with Nebraska and Ohio State after this one.<\/p>\n For the Wolverines to win they will need a big game from QB Denard Robinson. \u00a0That may sound obvious but he has been pretty lifeless lately and is third worst in the nation with 12 interceptions – a figure that is worse than you think because he doesn\u2019t throw the ball all that often. \u00a0Big Blue might be missing top running back Fitzgerald Toussaint this weekend placing additional burden on Robinson.<\/p>\n Last year these two played one of the most thrilling games of the season, won by Michigan 67-65. \u00a0Although we have seen some explosive performances lately I think this game will be a little more staid. \u00a0There doesn\u2019t seem to be any discernible patterns for when these programs meet except for Michigan winning. \u00a0They have won 7 of the last 10.<\/p>\n Illinois<\/strong><\/p>\n For a month and half Illinois was following through on its super sleeper status in the Big Ten. \u00a0[soliloquy id=”82219″]<\/p>\n \u00a0But after three straight losses, all of them puzzling, they are now looking to regroup and finish strong. \u00a0Over the losing streak their offense has completely evaporated. \u00a0They haven\u2019t scored more than 14 points in any of the last three games after not scoring less than 17 in any of their first 6.<\/p>\n It should be no surprise that QB Nathan Scheelhaase has been abysmal over the losing streak. \u00a0Last week he completed only 9 passes for a grand total of 63 yards. \u00a0He seems to be falling into the trap many running QBs do of not being willing to take yards on the ground when they are there. \u00a0I am sure the Illini staff want him to evolve but he is a superlative athlete and shouldn\u2019t fight the instincts. \u00a0It is hurting the team.<\/p>\n What is not hurting the team is the defense. \u00a0Illinois is 6th in yards alllowed and 13th in points at just 17 per game. \u00a0They are 15th in the nation in rushing defense allowing 102 yards per game and if they can restrict Michigan in that area they may be able to win, even with another poor offensive showing. \u00a0Also, Michigan may have won 7 of 10, but Illinois has won two of the last three including the last one in Champaign two years ago.<\/p>\n ATS Pick: \u00a0Illinois Michigan Wolverines vs Illinois Fighting Illini Gambling + Handicapping Preview. Last year these two played one of the most thrilling games of the season, won by Michigan 67-65. The Illini are looking to regroup and finish strong. Michigan has won 7 of the last 10 in this series.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":180,"featured_media":34435,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,25],"tags":[321,579,661,52960,52959,770,2574,52961],"class_list":["post-45472","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ncaa-football","category-sportsbooks","tag-college-football-lines","tag-illinois","tag-michigan","tag-michigan-vs-illinois","tag-michigan-wolverines-vs-illinois-fighting-illini","tag-ncaa-football-predictions","tag-wolverines","tag-wolverines-vs-fighting-illini"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45472","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/180"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45472"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45472\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45502,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45472\/revisions\/45502"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34435"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45472"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45472"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45472"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nMemorial Stadium – Champaign, IL
\nSaturday November 12 – 3:30PM
\nMoneyline: \u00a0Michigan -117, Illinois -113
\nSpread (ATS): PK
\nOver\/Under: 49.5
\nOdds courtesy of 5Dimes<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nOver\/Under Pick: Over
\nScore Prediction: \u00a0Illinois 28 – Michigan 24<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"