College Football ATS Picks - Northern Illinois at Nebraska Game Preview

A freight train ran over the Nebraska Cornhuskers last week. Although they came back and made it a game at the end, Oregon demolished this defense, putting up 566 total yards of offense in a convincing win. It was an ominous performance from the Cornhuskers after the team nearly lost at home to Arkansas State last week. Nebraska has one more non-conference game to get a win before Big Ten play starts and will try to pick it up against the Northern Illinois Huskies.

This contest in Week 3 of the regular season will go down Saturday, September 16, 2017, at 12

p.m. ET at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska. This game will be broadcast on FS1.

College Football Opening Odds at BookMaker.eu

Northern Illinois +14
Nebraska -14
Over/Under 58.5

Odds Analysis

Northern Illinois is sitting at 1-1 coming into this game. The Huskies nearly knocked off Boston College in their season opener and then cruised to an easy win against Eastern Illinois last week. They are 2-0 ATS and both of their games have gone under the total to this point.

The Cornhuskers ended up getting the cover after coming from behind against Oregon. They were 10.5-point underdogs in the game and a late touchdown put them within seven of the Ducks at the gun. Both of their games have flown over the total thanks to a better than expected offense and a defense that has had major problems stopping opponents.

Matchup to Watch

Through three weeks, Nebraska has the worst pass defense in the country. The Cornhuskers have been torched through the air, allowing an average of 390 yards per game. Those numbers are really bad as neither one of the teams it played is considered to have a great passing attack.

The loss of Chris Jones for the season hurt more than anyone could have imagined. Jones was a senior and the best cornerback on the roster, but tore his meniscus in summer. In his stead, two underclassmen have been starting and they have really struggled to adjust to the speed of the college game.

Northern Illinois may not be able to exploit that weakness. Starting quarterback Ryan Graham won’t be available because of an elbow injury and Daniel Santacaterina will start in his stead. Although Santacaterina played well in the Huskies win over Eastern Illinois, that is an FCS team without a great defense. He will face a much different unit in Nebraska.

Player to Watch

Tanner Lee is the main man in Lincoln, but for how much longer? Lee threw four interceptions against Oregon last week and those proved to be deadly in the loss.

The Tulane transfer is the only quarterback on the roster with starting experience at the FBS level, but there might be a point where head coach Mike Riley pulls the trigger on a switch. Lee wasn’t exactly great at Tulane and hasn’t been good in either of his two starts at Nebraska, struggling to find a rhythm and having major accuracy problems.

Northern Illinois has a better defense than your typical MAC team and Lee could struggle.

Free ATS Pick

Nebraska got good news with regards to star running back Tre Bryant. Bryant left the game against Oregon with a knee injury, but it seems like he will be ready to go against Northern Illinois. He has been leaned on heavily already this season and has 75 percent of the team’s carries.

The under is a solid bet in this one, despite the struggles of Nebraska’s defense. The Cornhuskers run defense has been fine despite the mediocre ranking and the Huskies won’t have a lot of success against this team with a backup quarterback under center.

As for a side, Nebraska is a slightly better option here, but not by much.

College Football Odds: Cornhuskers 31, Huskies 14

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