Northwestern at Duke – College Football Predictions
The Game
For the third consecutive season it is the battle of the SUPER BRAINS as Northwestern takes on Duke. The Wildcats have won the past two battles including their last visit here in 2015 which ended up being a 19-10 win and a 8900 STAR MEGALOCKS HOT STEAMING DIME CLUB winner. Northwestern struggled in the first half last week vs Nevada and trailed 17-7. They turned on the jets and finished up with a 31-20 victory. The Blue Devils had an FCS opponent to warmup with and crushed NC Central 60-7. This should be a good game.
The Details
NORTHWESTERN -3 DUKE (55)
MEGALOCKS LINE – Northwestern -1
“Vegas” Implied Projected Score: Northwestern 29 Duke 26
Massey Ratings Projected Score: Northwestern 27 Duke 24
The Match-Up
Northwestern offense vs Duke defense
We think QB Clayton Thorson is one of the most underrated QBs around and he got off to a good start last week throwing for over 350 yards while completing over 70% of his passes. We hate to keep singing his praises but he is pretty good. RB Justin Jackson is coming off a 1,500 yard (!) season but just managed to gain 109 yards on 30 carries last week vs Nevada. We were a bit surprised to see that low avg per carry but did not get a chance to watch any of that game. The Blue Devils got off to a pretty good start last week allowing 7 points but this is a yuuuuge step up in class. They will be tested vs the run and the pass. Duke allowed 28 points per game last season but we expect them to be improved in 2017. We think Northwestern will get themselves into the mid-high 20s based on their sneaky good passing game.
Duke offense vs Northwestern defense
Here is another UNDER THE RADAR QB. Daniel Jones was pretty good as a freshman and also got off to a good start in week one. Don’t forget – he also ran for 7 scores in 2016. What we really liked to see last week was the production in the running game (243 yards), and while it was NC Central, we still have a decent feeling about the offense this season. Nevada RB J Kincaide ran for 86 yards on just 15 carries last week. Duke should be able to move the ball on offense. Take note that Northwestern is banged up on defense. We can also see Duke getting into the 20s without issue.
MEGA MORSELS
The last two meetings between these two teams have been low scoring SNOT BUBBLERS…..24-13 and 19-10…..The road team is 9-3 ATS in the last 12 meetings between these two teams…..Duke has bagged 4 straight winning seasons vs the number.
Summary
This is a pretty good match-up between a pair of teams that are both under the DEGENERATE RADAR. We think that Duke is good enough to stay close and even win the game late. Does NW just have their number ? Hard to say.
Conclusion
Small potatoes recommendation on the over. Also think Duke is a good team for a small ML taste.