Music City Bowl: Tennessee at Purdue: 12/30/21 College Football Picks and Prediction

The Tennessee Volunteers and Purdue Boilermakers face off on Thursday in a college football showdown in the Music City Bowl at Nissan Stadium. 

Purdue comes into this game with an 8-4 record and they have gone 7-5 against the spread. The Boilermakers have won two games in a row and they have been impressive in both of those wins. In the last game against Indiana, Purdue put up 44 points while the defense gave up only seven points. Purdue is averaging 27.5 points while their defense is giving up 20.5 points per game. Aidan O’Connell has been the top player for Purdue throwing for 3,178 yards, 23 touchdowns and eight interceptions. The Boilermakers are banged up heading into this game and two of their best players, David Bell and defensive end George Karlaftis are expected to miss this game. Milton Wright, Dedrick Mackey, and Greg Long are also expected to miss this game. 

On the other side of this matchup is Tennessee who sits with an 8-4 record and they have gone 7-5 against the spread. Tennessee has been inconsistent this season but they have won two games in a row. The last game came against Tennessee and the offense scored 45 points and that led to the easy victory. The Volunteers are averaging 38.8 points while their defense is giving up 27.5 points per game. Tennessee is a tempo team and there is no doubt they are going to go fast again in this game. One big question heading into this game is if Tennessee will have Hendon Hooker who is dealing with a hand injury. If he can’t go, the Volunteers will probably turn to Joe Milton.