College Football Game Lines – Northwestern Tries To Preserve Perfect Record

The Purdue Boilermakers will try to put a brutal non-conference start behind them when they travel to Northwestern for their Big Ten opener on Saturday night.

They are a 9.5-point underdog on the college football lines.

Purdue Boilermakers @ Northwestern Wildcats

Saturday, October 9th – 7:35 PM ET

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Ryan Field, Evanston, IL

Broadcast: Big Ten Network

College Football Game Lines: Purdue +9.5, Northwestern -9.5

Total: 50.5

Purdue –which has lost star wide receiver Keith Smith and quarterback Robert Marve to ACL injuries – was embarrassed at home against Toledo two weeks ago, so a well-timed bye week could help the Boilermakers regain their focus as they try to salvage their season.

A win at unbeaten Northwestern will be a tall order. Wildcat quarterback Dan Persa has had a phenomenal start to his career as a starting signal caller, and Northwestern has risen to the occasion in every difficult situation this year, including a 29-28 win at Minnesota last week.

Now that Marve is out for Purdue, redshirt freshman Rob Henry is the starter at quarterback, and he’ll face his first road start on Saturday. In addition to Marve, Smith, and running back Robert Bolden, wide receiver Justin Siller will also miss several weeks for the Boilermakers, due to a sprained foot.Siller, who saw action at quarterback for the Boilermakers two seasons ago, was being counted on to pick up some of the playmaking slack when Smith went down, and to perhaps take snaps at quarterback.

Some had suggested that Siller should return to quarterback full time.That obviously won’t happen now. The offense belongs to Henry.

Sophomore running back Al-Terek McBurse, who was expected to be the starter this season after Bolden went down in the spring, has missed the last two games with a turf toe injury. He may return to the lineup on Saturday, which would allow young wide receivers Antavian Edison and O.J. Ross to return to their usual positions instead of splitting time between receiver and running back.

College Football Game Lines: What Purdue Has To Do To Win

Because of all the injuries outlined above, an already-deficient Purdue team has to keep its game plan simple. There’s no way coach Danny Hope and his staff can give Rob Henry a fully-loaded playbook. Purdue has to execute simple plays well and get a physical performance from its offensive line.

The Boilermakers have to confuse Persa on defense and come up with a minimum of three turnovers if they want to be competitive. They’ll probably need a special-teams play or two – in addition to a plus-three turnover margin – if they expect to win outright.

College Football Betting Lines: What Northwestern Has To Do To Win

The Wildcats just have to weed out the many mistakes that nearly killed them against a bad Minnesota club last weekend. A Northwestern receiver lined up offside on two separate occasions. The Wildcats committed false-start penalties in short-yardage situations to sabotage promising drives. Persa fumbled inside the Minnesota 6, and the Cats coughed up three turnovers. If Northwestern doesn’t clean up its act, Purdue could steal an upset.

College Football Game Lines: Outlook & Pick

It would be hard to imagine Northwestern playing any worse than it did against Minnesota. The Wildcats will have to play that poorly yet again if they want to lose to Purdue. That’s probably not going to happen. The injury-depletedBoilermakers should be no match for Northwestern. The team in purple will cover the number at home.

College Football Game Lines Pick: Northwestern -10