The Wolverines have lost three of their last four road games while the Northwestern Wildcats lost two consecutive home games before a bye week in Week 4. One of those trends will end Saturday in Evanston, Illinois. Michigan opened as a 9-point favorite but early action now has the spread at 14.5 points.
Michigan vs Northwestern Game Center
Michigan Regains No. 14 Ranking
Shea Patterson has a 160.5 QB rating (third in the Big Ten) and has led the Wolverines to a 3-1 record to open the season, keeping them in the discussion for the College Football Playoff entering Week 5. There’s obviously plenty of football to go, but after falling from their season-opening rank of 14 in the AP Top 25, they’ve regained that mark coming into this week’s game.
Chris Evans and Karan Higdon have a combined 536 rushing yards through four games as the Michigan offense has had a great deal of success on the ground despite injuries to both backs. Higdon missed the SMU game in Week 3 but returned for 136 yards vs Nebraska in Week 4, while Evans is currently listed as questionable for Saturday with a leg injury.
Northwestern Reeling Since Week 1 Win
The Wildcats opened the year with a 31-27 road win at Purdue but followed that up with consecutive home losses to Duke and Akron – two games where they were the favorite. Northwestern was a 2.5-point favorite in a 21-7 loss to Duke and a massive 21.5-point favorite in the 39-34 loss to Akron.
The Wildcats are scoring just 24 points per game – that’s 12th out of 14 teams in the Big Ten – as they play their first ranked opponent of the season. Northwestern got some terrible news on Monday as starting RB Jeremy Larkin announced his retirement after being diagnosed with cervical stenosis.
My Pick for this Game
I locked in Michigan at 13 points in this one. The Wolverines have shown an ability to score points, averaging 43.5 per game, and also an ability to defend by allowing just 12.5 points per game. Combined with the unfortunate loss of Larkin for Northwestern and the Wildcats’ lack of success against unranked teams, Michigan should be in line to cover this spread.
As I predicted earlier this week, the line has moved higher with the news of the Larkin injury. Our data shows 70% of the public is still on the Wolverines.