Illinois Fighting Illini vs Wisconsin Badgers Prediction, 10/23/2020 College Football Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Illinois Fighting Illini vs Wisconsin Badgers

Date: Friday, October 23, 2020

Location: Camp Randall Stadium

TV: BTN

Odds/Point Spread: Illinois (+18.5)

Total/Over-Under: 54.5

Brandon Peters and the Illinois Fighting Illini (6-7 last year) head to Camp Randall Stadium on Friday where they'll meet the Wisconsin Badgers (10-4 last season). Illinois opens this matchup as 18.5-point underdogs. The O/U opens at 54.5.

In their last outing in 2019, the Illinois Fighting Illini played the California Golden Bears and were on the losing end of this game by a score of 35-20. Brandon Peters went 22/37 with 273 yards by way of the pass and tossed 1 TD. He walked away with 1 pick on the day. Peters also led the team in rushing for that game. He had a long run of 30 yards but he wasn't able to run one in for a touchdown. He racked up a total of 68 yards on 8 carries which meant he was running for 8.5 yards per run. Donny Navarro was the receiving yardage leader with a total of 77 yards on 6 receptions. He had an average of 12.8 yards per reception for that game.

In terms of putting the ball in the endzone, the Illinois Fighting Illini averaged 26.7 points per outing. As a team they held an average of 144.4 yds on the ground, which ranked them 88th in Division 1. The Fighting Illini earned 4,286 yards in total for the previous season. Illinois earned 20 touchdowns via the pass and 20 touchdowns via the ground. The Fighting Illini ranked 66th in Division 1 when it comes to team defense, allowing 26.2 PPG. They allowed an average of 4.3 yards per rush and 196.5 rushing yards per game last season. Overall, they gave up 2,555 yards on the ground in 13 games. Regarding yards through the air, the Fighting Illini conceded 2,768 yds which had them sitting in 62nd in college football. They gave up 21 passing touchdowns in addition to 20 rushing touchdowns. They relinquished 409.5 yards/outing putting them at 92nd in the country.

For his career, Peters has thrown for a total of 2,564 yards with 22 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. Since his collegiate career started, he has attempted running the football 91 different times totaling 177 yards. He has a QB rating of 123.6 with a touchdown rate of 5.7% and an interception percentage of 2.9%. He is throwing for 134.9 yards per outing. Brandon Peters has connected on 210 of his attempted career 385 passes for a completion percentage of 54.5%.

In their last contest last season, the Wisconsin Badgers faced the Oregon Ducks and took the loss by a score of 28-27. Jonathan Taylor led the team on the ground in this game. He had a long run of 18 yards but he never crossed the endzone by way of the rush. He scurried for 94 yards via 21 carries which means he ran for an average of 4.5 yards per run. Quintez Cephus was the receiving yardage leader with a total of 59 yards on 7 receptions. He had an average of 8.4 yards per reception in this game. Jack Coan went 23/35 with 186 yards through the air and threw 1 TD. He tossed 1 pick for the game.

Concerning the points being put on the board, the Badgers earned a ranking of 23rd in the nation with an average of 34.1 PPG. For the prior season, the Badgers racked up 2,801 yards through the air together with an average of 200.1 passing yards per outing, putting them at 96th in the country. They had an average of 233.7 run yards per game and ran for 3,272 yards for the season. The Wisconsin Badgers averaged 433.9 yards per game ranking them 40th in the nation. Wisconsin allowed a total of 1,418 yards via the ground game (101.3 yards per outing) as well as 11 touchdowns by way of the ground game over the course of last year. Last season, they conceded 237 total points. They allowed 18 touchdowns from the passing game as well as 187.4 yards per outing, which had them sitting 25th in D-1. The Badgers surrendered 16.9 PPG, which had them in 22nd in the nation.

Graham Mertz  is expected to start for the Badgers. He has only played 2 games in his college career and has completed 9 of his 10 tries for a total of 73 yards.

Who will win tonight's Fighting Illini/Badgers NCAA football game against the spread?

Guy's Pick: Take the Badgers -18.5

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