College Football Betting Tips – Wisconsin Faces Limited And Injured Purdue Team

After being blown out in consecutive road games, the Purdue Boilermakers return home Saturday to face another tough conference opponent, the seventh-ranked Wisconsin Badgers. Here’s a preview with some college football betting tips.

Wisconsin Badgers @ Purdue Boilermakers 

Saturday, November 6th – 12:00 PM ET

Ross-Ade Stadium, West Lafayette, IN 

Broadcast: Big Ten Network 

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Odds: Wisconsin -20, Purdue +20 

Total: 51

The dominant storyline of this game is simply the massive collection of injuries that’s mounting up for Purdue. The Boilermakers are down to their third quarterback of the season, true freshman Sean Robinson, who has struggled along with the rest of the Purdue offense since stepping in for Rob Henry, who suffered a finger laceration on his throwing hand two weeks ago against Ohio State.  Robinson will handle the bulk of the snaps again this week as Henry’s finger heals.  Wide receiver Justin Siller, who started three games at quarterback in 2008, warmed up at quarterback last week but is still unable to play due to a foot injury. 

In last week’s 44-10 loss at Illinois, Robinson completed seven of 20 pass attempts in extremely windy conditions.  Purdue gained just 205 total yards, managed only nine first downs, and converted two of 14 third-down attempts.  Illinois led 37-0 before Purdue scored its first points, on a Carson Wiggs field goal with 10:50 left in the fourth quarter.  The Boilers finally got into the end zone when Robinson hit Gary Bush for a seven-yard touchdown with 5:44 to play. 

The Purdue offense has scored just one touchdown in the last two games, while continuing to suffer injury after injury.  During last week’s 44-10 loss to Illinois, the Boilermakers lost freshman receiver O.J. Ross for the season with a shoulder injury.  Another top receiver, Cortez Smith, hobbled to the sidelines with a leg injury, and may be limited this week.  Running back Al-Terek McBurse has been moved to receiver as offensive coordinator Gary Nord tries to get more playmakers on the field. 

College Football Betting Tips: What Wisconsin Has To Do To Win 

The Badgers enjoy a wealth of options at running back.  Senior John Clay, the reigning Big Ten offensive player of the year, has run for 887 yards and 13 touchdowns.  True freshman James White (570 yards, nine touchdowns) and sophomore Montee Ball (219 yards, four touchdowns) could start for most teams.  Wisconsin will almost always have a fresh-legged back in the game.

Assuming they decide to throw the ball (they might not need to), the Badgers will rely on the capable arm of senior Scott Tolzien, who’s been good enough to hand the Buckeyes and Hawkeyes their only conference losses.  Tolzien is a typical Badger quarterback, a game manager whose bread-and-butter is the play-action pass. As long as Wisconsin executes basic plays and keeps Purdue’s defense just a little bit off balance, it should be fine on Saturday. 

College Football Betting Tips: What Purdue Has To Do To Win 

Controlling the ball is an obvious area of concern for the Boilermakers as they prepare to face the Badgers, whose offense is their usual clock-grinding, downhill-running attack.   In Purdue’s recent game against Illinois, the Illini controlled the ball on Purdue, enjoying a 38:17-21:43 edge in time of possession.   

If they couldn’t keep the Illinois offense off the field, it would be logical to assume that the Boilermakers will struggle against the powerful Badgers, who rank 13th in the nation with 221.4 rushing yards per game.  Wisconsin has put up over 30 points in all four of its conference games, including wins over Ohio State and Iowa.  Wisconsin had the week off last week. The Badgers are fresh, so Purdue has to rest its defense in this game. The Boilermakers need to be aggressive on fourth downs and not punt the ball unless they absolutely have to. It’s just that simple when you’re a 20-point underdog. 

Outlook & College Football Betting Tips

Purdue’s lack of bodies is simply too alarming to ignore. Wisconsin will thrash the undermanned Boilermakers and cover the number. 

College Football Betting Tips: Wisconsin -20