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Northwestern Wildcats vs. Michigan Wolverines Odds & Game Pick (2021)

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The Northwestern Wildcats will travel to Michigan to take on an undefeated Wolverines team that has their eyes set on the prize of playing in the College Football Playoff.

Northwestern fought their way back to .500 with a win against Rutgers last week and will ultimately look to play spoiler, on the road, against a red hot Michigan team. At this point, Northwestern can still play for bowl eligibility, but with the way things have gone recently, it’s not very likely.

On the other hand, Michigan is 6-0 and now ranked sixth in the nation thanks to a defense that has played stellar all season long. The offense also hasn’t been so bad either and will look to continue their dominance in the run game against a Northwestern defense that has struggled in every portion of their game on the defensive end.

Here are our picks and predictions for a Week 7 Big Ten battle between Northwestern and Michigan.

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Details

  • Opening Line: Michigan -.5, O/U 49.5
  • Current Line: Michigan -23.5, O/U 50.5
  • Last meeting: September 29, 2018, Michigan 20, Northwestern 17

Overview 

The Michigan Wolverines are trying to complete the perfect season. While they’re undefeated to start the season, there’s still plenty of games to play. If the College Football Playoff was selected today, Michigan might have a hard time getting in. There’s still plenty of work to be done when it comes to Michigan Football.

Michigan is averaging 38.5 points per game while earning 440.5 yards per game. Defensively, they’re allowing just 15.5 points per game and allowing 310 points, including just 190 yards passing.

Michigan has been terrific on the offensive end, rushing the football, to be specific. Michigan earns 246.5 yards per game behind sophomore running back Blake Corum, who has eight touchdowns and 610 yards on just 97 carries.

On defense, Michigan has looked elite. They’re not Georgia, but they’re easily one of the best defenses in the country and especially one of the best in the Big Ten.

On the other hand, Northwestern hasn’t been getting great quarterback play from any of their quarterbacks. Right now, it’s Hilinski running the show, and while he has thrown no interceptions, he’s also only thrown three touchdowns on 99 attempts this season.

The defense has also been a question, especially in the running game. Knowing how much Michigan loves to run the football, that won’t go very well for Northwestern. They’re allowing 205.7 yards per game on the ground this season through six games. So we can expect Michigan to run for over 200 yards against this Wildcats team.

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Trends 

  • Wolverines are 4-0 ATS in their last 4 games after accumulating more than 450 total yards in their previous game.
  • Wildcats are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games after allowing less than 20 points in their previous game.
  • Over is 4-1 in Wolverines last 5 games after allowing more than 280 yards passing in their previous game.

Bottom Line 

Northwestern is allowing more points than they’re scoring this year and now have to face one of the best teams in all of college football, on the road, in the Big House.

The rushing defense has been unlike years past for this Northwestern team. They’ve poorly struggled, allowing over 200 yards per game on the ground this season.

On the other hand, Michigan has looked to run the ball most of the time on the offensive end and has averaged close to 250 yards on the ground per game. This is the perfect game for Michigan to run the football for significant gains. They’ll control the clock from the get-go and win this game by more than three scores.

Pick: Michigan -23.5 (-110)

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Jason Radowitz is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Jason, check out his archive and follow him @Jason_Radowitz.