CFB Saturday’s Slate: Week Five Big Ten Picks and Predictions

Conference play is finally here for most Big Ten teams and now the fun begins. Fall is just around the corner and Big Ten football is back in one of the best years in terms of competitiveness. Week five provides many anticipated matchups and we will learn just how competitive some teams are. Through four weeks of predicting outcomes for my favorite games, I have a record of 12-4. Let’s try and keep the ball rolling as I pick my favorite Big Ten games of week five. Let’s check it out. 

Michigan at Wisconsin

This game features two of the biggest Big Ten brands as Michigan and Wisconsin go head-to-head in Madison. The atmosphere is going to be electric and the crowd will be hostile after the Badgers got embarrassed versus Notre Dame. The game provides an interesting matchup. The Wolverines love running the football and the Badger's best quality as a team is stopping the run. We have yet to see Michigan win a game on the shoulders of quarterback Cade McNamara. The rushing game for the Wolverines is averaging 290.8-yards while the passing game with McNamara is only averaging 131-yards. Wisconsin will need Graham Mertz to start playing better football this week but I believe that this will be a defensive slugfest. Wisconsin’s defense is for real and I think they respond after a disappointing loss to beat Michigan behind the crowd.

Michigan 20 Wisconsin 24

Ohio State at Rutgers

People believe that Ohio State is facing a trap game here traveling to New Jersey to play Rutgers. This Rutgers football team is the best they have been in years, they played well against a good Michigan football team in Ann Arbor. The defense is amazing, they are giving up only 13.5 points per game and most of that credit goes to Head coach Greg Schiano. The Buckeyes got exposed by Oregon early on in the season and the defense underwent many changes. They have gotten younger on the defensive side of the ball and they finally put a solid game together in week four. The running game is flourishing and the offensive line is flexing their muscles as freshman running back TreVeyon Henderson has six touchdowns through four games. The Buckeyes are starting to figure things out and I think they go to Rutgers and start proving themselves to the nation. 

Ohio State 38 Rutgers 21

Northwestern at Nebraska

The Cornhuskers have been playing solid football in the past couple of weeks. Nebraska does have a 2-3 record but they are improving. Last week they faced a solid, ranked Michigan State team and almost beat them in East Lansing while the week before they played No. 6 Oklahoma and lost 23-17. The Cornhusker’s quarterback Adrian Martinez is having a good year with 11 touchdowns through five games. Focusing on Northwestern, they finally convincingly beat a team in week four as they handled Ohio University 35-6. Northwestern is beating the teams they should but not showing up when they play big opponents. The offense is not dynamic through the air but they are running the balls effectively. I think the Cornhuskers have the best playmaker in the game with quarterback Adrian Martinez and they should handle the Wildcats, especially at home.

Northwestern 17 Nebraska 24

References:https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/

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-By: Justin Howard