The #14 Michigan Wolverines travel to the Northwestern Wildcats Saturday for a game that both teams really need to have if they are going to realize their 2018 season goals. For Michigan, this could be loss number two and that kiboshes any college football playoff hopes.
For Northwestern, they are coming off consecutive home losses, the last being an inexcusable and inexplicable setback at the hands of lowly Akron. The previous outing, a 21-7 dropped decision to Duke was ugly, but somewhat understandable given how the Blue Devils are much better than we thought they would be this season.
If NU loses, they fall to 1-3, and that’s gloomy and doomy, when you consider how we’ve come to expect at least 7 or 8 wins a season in Evanston under Pat Fitzgerald. They have win 10 three times since 2012. If the Wolverines win this weekend, they will obviously leapfrog one of their main fellow contenders for the division title, as somebody has to lose the weekend’s headliner game- #4 Ohio State at #9 Penn State.
SPREAD: If you’re looking to wager, like you would do at Casino 770, then you’ll find the Michigan Wolverines as heavy favorites in this game. Depending on the bookie, Michigan is backed anywhere from -11 to -15
Kickoff, TV, Radio: 3:30 p.m. CT – FOX: Gus Johnson, Joel Klatt WGN Radio: Dave Eanet, Ted Albrecht
Northwestern Wildcats Preview:
With the Cats, the biggest news is obviously yesterday’s bombshell. Feature back Jeremy Larkin, who was filling in quite admirably for program legend Justin Jackson, has retired from football, effective immediately. He now begins the process of transitioning to life after playing football by assuming a new role with the team. The sophomore now begins his coaching career as a student assistant.
Larkin was recently diagnosed with cervical stenosis, a narrowing of the spinal canal in the neck. “The condition is not life threatening but prevents continued participation in football,” reads the statement just sent out by the school on Monday.
This is obviously devastating all around for NU. Larkin ran for 346 yards and five touchdowns on a 4.8 yards per carry average. The team as a whole only has 351 rushing yards on the season. Larkin leads the team in rushes with 72, the next closest in this category is John Moten IV, who has just 12.
Moten is now number one on the depth chart, and that is anything but promising, as he averages a very unsightly 1.8 yards per rush.
Isaiah Bowser, who has one carry for 0 yards, is now the second string. Larkin also has 127 of the team’s 922 receiving yards this season.
We discussed Northwestern football last week on CLTV Sports Feed with Jarrett Payton. We were just saying that Larkin is really what makes the Cats go, and that the team really needed to keep getting him the ball as much as possible.
Well, so much for that, but have a watch below anyway as we cover plenty of other NU topics:
#14 Michigan Wolverines Preview:
Head Coach Jim Harbaugh has come under heavy fire for not coming remotely close to living up to the ridiculous hype that has accompanied his arrival and early tenure in Ann Arbor. To be fair, the media has slobbered over him so much that it’s nearly impossible to live up to hype at this astronomical level.
However, Harbaugh has legitimately brought the program up a tick. After Lloyd Carr’s final season (2007), Michigan only finished ranked in the AP top 25 three times in the next seven seasons, and never once did they place higher than 12th. UM finished ranked in the top 12 in each of Harbaugh’s first two seasons.
UM is led by their defense, and the unit’s trio of NFL first round draft pick prospects. The triad consists of DL Rashan Gary, LB Devin Bush and DE/OLB Chase Winovich.
Ahead of league media day, the Big Ten released its preseason honorees — five players representing each division, and Gary, one of the highest rated recruits in the Harbaugh era, was Michigan’s only honoree. The junior was first-team All-Big Ten by the coaches last season as a sophomore. He had 66 tackles, 12 tackles for loss and six sacks in 2017.
Bush, a sideline to sideline player with exceptional pass rushing abilities, Bush has the benefit of having his father on the coaching staff. He’s playing out of his mind right out now and his draft stock is surging.
A dominant player with exceedingly dominant hair, Winovich is a red shirt senior who is coming off a massive game against Nebraska. Go here to see where we have all three of these Michigan Wolverines in our latest NFL mock draft.
On offense, in the words of Missy Elliott:
“This is for my people, my party people
This is for my people, my motherf#$%ng people.”
Sophomore wide receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones is the reigning Big Ten special teams player of the week after scored the second punt return touchdown of his career with a 60-yard score against Nebraska. That marks his fourth touchdown overall in the last seven quarters of action.
He’s recorded at least one touchdown in three consecutive games, with five total touchdowns over that stretch, and is quickly establishing himself as the Michigan Wolverines new big playmaker.
Prediction: Michigan Wolverines 31, Northwestern Wildcats 13
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, is currently a regular contributor to SB Nation, WGN CLTV and Chicago Now.
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