Illinois +3.5
Am I a homer here? I don't think so. Minnesota has the edge in stats but when you see the teams they've played (SW Texas, La-Lafayette, Buffalo, Toledo and Purdue), you'd expect them to. I thought Minny lost 2 valuable skill players in RB Redman and WR Johnson and I don't think they have replaced them adequately. Tapeh can bench over 400 and has 4.4 speed but he hasn't shown he's a quality back. So Abdul Khaliq has to step up big time and he's hobbled and coming off a terrible performance (16 for 48). He's still listed as questionable.
As for Illinois, turnovers and defense has been their Achilles heel so far. They return 7 defensive starters from last season and Phil Steele rates their DBs 9th best in the country and the LB unit 21st in the country so the talent and potential is there; they just have to go out and perform. Last week the Illini outgained Michigan by over 100 yards and outfirstdowned them 29-20. Feist's game rescore had the score at 31-29 Mich so the final numbers may have been a bit misleading. The wrong team is favored here, IMO.
Am I a homer here? I don't think so. Minnesota has the edge in stats but when you see the teams they've played (SW Texas, La-Lafayette, Buffalo, Toledo and Purdue), you'd expect them to. I thought Minny lost 2 valuable skill players in RB Redman and WR Johnson and I don't think they have replaced them adequately. Tapeh can bench over 400 and has 4.4 speed but he hasn't shown he's a quality back. So Abdul Khaliq has to step up big time and he's hobbled and coming off a terrible performance (16 for 48). He's still listed as questionable.
As for Illinois, turnovers and defense has been their Achilles heel so far. They return 7 defensive starters from last season and Phil Steele rates their DBs 9th best in the country and the LB unit 21st in the country so the talent and potential is there; they just have to go out and perform. Last week the Illini outgained Michigan by over 100 yards and outfirstdowned them 29-20. Feist's game rescore had the score at 31-29 Mich so the final numbers may have been a bit misleading. The wrong team is favored here, IMO.
