Wisconsin at Illinois: 10/9/21 College Football Picks and Prediction

Defensively, Wisconsin is allowing their opponents to average 25.5 ppg on 250.0 total yards per game (203.8 passing yds/g; 46.8 rushing yds/g).

The Illinois Fighting Illini snapped their 4-game losing streak and improved to 2-4 on the season after defeating the Charlotte 49ers, 24-14, this past Saturday. Illinois trailed by a 14-10 margin going into halftime, however, the Fighting Illini was outstanding defensively in the 2nd half and was able to pull away in the 3rd quarter after a 80yard TD run by Charles Brown gave Illinois a double-digit led. Illinois outgained Charlotte by a 414-272 margin and won the turnover battle by a 2-1 margin in the victory. Leading the way for the Fighting Illini was Chase Brown who had 257 rushing yards & 2 TD’s on 26 carries.

On the season, Illinois is averaging 20.7 ppg on 355.3 total yards per game (168.2 passing yds/g; 187.2 rushing yds/g). Offensively, Illinois has been led by the RB trio of Chase Brown (52 att, 379 yards, 3 TD), Josh McCray (60 att, 333 yards, TD), & Reggie Love III (42 att, 150 yards). QB Brandon Peters has completed 56.9% of his passes for 611 yards, 6 TD, & 1 INT. The top receiving threats for the Fighting Illini have been Isaiah Williams (28 rec, 275 yards, TD), Deuce Spann (4 rec, 117 yards, 2 TD), Casey Washington (12 rec, 103 yards), & Daniel Barker (9 rec, 100 yards, 3 TD).

Defensively, Illinois is allowing their opponents to average 24.7 ppg on 418.8 total yards per game (292.2 passing yds/g; 126.7 rushing yds/g).

The Badgers are 2-6 ATS vs. a team with a losing record and 0-6 ATS in their last 6 conference games. The Fighting Illini are 4-1-1 ATS in their last 6 games in October and 5-2 ATS in their last 7 games following a straight up win.

Wisconsin’s season has gone from bad to worse after last weeks embarrassing loss at home against Michigan, and despite having a solid defense, the offense has been plagued by inefficient play from QB Graham Mertz and a turnover margin of -9. Illinois has played better recently than their record might indicate, however, this is also a team that can struggled putting points on the board as they rank just 109th in scoring offense & 97th in total offense. Wisconsin has some talent, but I can’t trust the Badgers offense on the road giving double digits and my play here is to take Illinois and the Under! Good Luck!