No. 25 Nebraska at Minnesota

Friday, October 17
5:00 PM PT, FOX

Line: Nebraska –7.5
Over/Under: 50.5

Minnesota is unbeaten in four home games this season. Nebraska is unbeaten on the road, though the sample size is quite small. Something has to give.

The Huskers have only played one true road game, and it was last week at Maryland. In that one, Nebraska rallied in the fourth quarter, scoring the game’s final 10 points in the last eight minutes to secure a three-point win.

The Gophers have been very good against the run this season, but got torched on the ground last week in their win over Purdue, giving up 253 yards.

The Huskers had a good deal of success on the ground against the Terps last week, but it is Dylan Raiola making plays in the passing game that will make the offense hum.

The Gophers have been lit up through the air in their two losses. Ohio State threw for 341 against them while Cal went for 279.

Look for Nebraska to take advantage of the Minnesota secondary and leave the Twin Cities with a win—and probably a late cover.

Against the spread: Nebraska
Points Total: Under
Outright winner: Nebraska

Washington at Michigan

Saturday, October 18
9:00 AM PT, Big Ten Network

Line: Michigan –5.5
Over/Under: 50.5

Washington is sneaking up on some people.

We knew the Huskies were going to be a solid team coming into the season, but with the 5-1 start and solid showing against Ohio State, they are starting to make some folks around the country take notice.

Demond Williams is also starting to show the rest of the world just how good he is.

And the Huskies are getting it done in the first half of the season, with Jonah Coleman being relatively quiet, despite leading the nation in rushing touchdowns. Once he gets going, the Huskies could be lights out.

This is one that the Huskies might need the star back to step up in. The Wolverines are always good on defense and especially good against the run.

That is again the case this season, but the Maize and Blue are not nearly as dominant at stuffing the run as they have been in recent seasons.

They currently rank 20th in defending the ground attack, giving up just over 100 yards per game, and they gave up 224 on the ground to USC last week.

In the four wins, they have allowed 61.8 while getting torched on the ground in the losses to the tune of 181 per game.

 

Oklahoma and USC both punished the Wolverines on the ground, and you would think the Huskies should find success as well.

On the other side of the ball, Bryce Underwood has been very good under center for Michigan. The true freshman has thrown for just over 200 yards per game while also running for 177 yards on the season.

As solid as he has been, Michigan needs to run the ball to find success. Michigan is 0-2 this season when they fail to reach at least 175 rushing yards.

Washington has the seventh-best run defense in the nation, allowing just 82.8 yards per outing. The most the Huskies have allowed on the ground this season is 149 to Ohio State.

Washington will score the upset in the Big House and stay in the hunt for the Big Ten and Playoff contention.

Against the spread: Washington
Points Total: Under
Outright winner: Washington

Michigan State at No. 3 Indiana

Saturday, October 18
12:30 PM PT, Peacock

Line: Indiana –27.5
Over/Under: 52.5

Curt Cignetti is 17-2 since taking over the Indiana job, and those 17 wins over the last two seasons are the most in any two-year span in Hoosier program history—and the team still has at least seven games to play in 2025.

The turnaround in Bloomington has been a gargantuan feat. A week after ending Oregon’s nation-leading home winning streak, the Hoosiers will welcome Michigan State to town for the battle of the Old Brass Spittoon.

While IU is experiencing a level of winning under its second-year head coach that it has never seen before, the Spartans are struggling through Year Two under Jonathan Smith.

MSU is 0-3 in conference play and, dating to last season, has gone 1-7 in its last eight Big Ten games with a 20.4-point average margin of defeat over those seven losses.

So, how does MSU stay in this one? Run the football; the Spartans are 3-0 when they run for at least 150 yards this season.

Indiana has allowed more than 93 yards on the ground in just one game —ODU ran for 218 in the opener, and 159 of them came on two plays. The Hoosiers limited Oregon to 81 on the ground.

Indiana may be gassed and perhaps due for a letdown, but it won’t be this week against a banged-up Michigan State team.

Indiana has the nation’s third-longest home-field winning streak at 12 games, and they won’t see it end on Saturday.

The Spitter stays in Bloomington for at least one more season.

Against the spread: Indiana
Points Total: Over
Outright winner: Indiana

No. 8 Oregon at Rutgers

Saturday, October 18
3:30 PM PT, Big Ten Network

Line: Oregon –17
Over/Under: 60.5

Oregon ran into a defense that was ready to play last week. The Ducks only managed 15 yards of offense in the fourth quarter against Indiana and were held to just 64 yards of offense after halftime.

Dante Moore was sacked six times, and the outing was about as un-Oregon-like as you could get. Now we return to our regularly scheduled broadcast.

Rutgers is going to be the elixir to erase last week’s performance. The Scarlet Knights opened the season with three straight wins but are still looking for their first bit of success in conference play.

The Knights had a 10-0 lead on Washington at the end of the first quarter last week, but saw it evaporate in the second quarter. The second half in Seattle is not anything the Knights will look back fondly on as they got outscored 28-6 following the break.

Rutgers has allowed 13 sacks in their three Big Ten games this season, with Minnesota getting to Athan Kaliakmanis seven times. The Ducks should be able to ratchet up the pressure on RU and dominate the line of scrimmage.

Look for Matayo Uiagalelei to feast in this one.

When the Ducks have the ball, they will be facing the 114th-ranked pass defense in the nation. Dante Moore and the offense will have a bounce-back game in a big way.

Against the spread: Oregon
Points Total: Over
Outright winner: Oregon

Maryland at UCLA

Saturday, October 18
4:00 PM PT, FS1

Line: UCLA –3.5
Over/Under: 52.5

Can the Bruins keep this thing rolling?

Well, things are going to start to toughen up on the UCLA’s schedule with a trip to OSU, IU, and USC still ahead, along with visits from Washington and Nebraska.

But it really starts with the Terps coming to Pasadena.

While UCLA opened the season 0-4 only to win its last two, Maryland opened the season 4-0 and suffered a pair of tough losses. Make no mistake, despite the recent defeats, this is a very solid Maryland team.

This UCLA offense has looked completely different the last two weeks, scoring 80 points with 10 touchdowns and 426.5 yards of total offense per game with zero turnovers.

The last number might be the biggest as the Bruins turned it over four times in the first four games of the season. Maryland, however, leads the nation in turnover margin at +1.67 per game. The Terps’ defense has picked off an FBS-leading 12 passes this season.

Staying clean with the football will be easier said than done this week and will be pivotal if UCLA wants to make it three in a row.

Malik Washington has stepped in at QB for Maryland as a true freshman and currently ranks 30th in the nation, throwing for 251 yards per game, but he has only completed 62.3% of his passes.

This has a lot to do with his receivers having a ton of drops, but if UCLA can get the Terps in long-yardage situations, they will have success on defense. UCLA is not an easy team to throw against, allowing just 173.7 passing yards per game, 25th in the nation.

And while UCLA has been terrible against the run, Maryland has not been able to run the ball effectively all season.

It will be strength on strength, and whichever unit performs better, and perhaps covers up their deficiencies better, will succeed.

I think the Bruins will again look like a team ready to make noise this season, but I think the real key in this one will be turnovers.

For that reason, I like the Terps to end the Bruins’ win streak as they force some errors.

Against the spread: Maryland
Points Total: Under
Outright winner: Maryland

No. 20 USC at No. 13 Notre Dame

Saturday, October 18
4:30 PM PT, NBC

Line: Notre Dame –9.5
Over/Under: 61.5

For the second straight week, we get a primetime NBC matchup with a pair of big brands, and for the second straight week, one of those squads is USC.

Now, can the Trojans replicate the results from a week ago in South Bend this Saturday and head back to LA with the Shillelagh?

Yes, yes, they can. And they can if they can move the ball on the ground like they did against Michigan. The Fighting Irish have allowed just 75.5 yards on the ground in the last two games and have allowed only 106.2 per game this season.

That makes this Notre Dame defense the 25th best in the land at shutting down the run. That is stout. You know who else is stout against the run? Michigan!

They are still allowing just 101.5 per game, and prior to USC running all over them were allowing 77.5 per game.  There is no reason USC will not be able to run the ball again this week.

Offensively, the Trojans have been nearly perfect aside from a collapse against Illinois. If USC doe not implode in that one we are looking at an unbeaten Trojan team heading to Notre Dame as a favorite.

That loss has cast some doubt, but the Irish have not fared well against moderately decent teams this season.

Not only is the Trojan offense good but the defense is loaded with athletes, especially in the middle. The SC linebackers could be in for a big game this week.

This one could be a de facto playoff elimination game.

I think the Irish will keep things close and it could come down to the wire, but with SC getting 9,5 points, give me the spread all day long. Not only do they cover, the Trojans come back with the Jeweled Shillelagh!

Against the spread: USC
Points Total: Under
Outright winner: USC