Stanford Cardinals at Northwestern Wildcats Free Pick and Point Spread . The Northwestern Wildcats will open the 2015 season on home soil as they welcome the Stanford Cardinal to the Ryan Field in Evanston, Illinois. 5Dimes is currently favouring the Cardinal, with -12 starting points and odds of -110. Total lines on the odds are 46½. Kick off is set to take place at 12:00 ET on Saturday, September 5th.
Betting Odds
Point Spread: Cardinals -12/Wildcats +12
Total Line: 46.5
Stanford had a super 2014 season, ranking in the top 10 in scoring defence, rushing defence, passing defence and total defence. The team is inundated with ferocious linebackers, which will prove to be difficult for the Wildcats to overcome. Pass rushers Kevin Anderson and Peter Kalambayi showed great prowess last season, combining their efforts for 12 sacks and 21 tackles for a loss. In addition, middle linebacker, Blake Martinez was also in fine form, achieving a team-high 102 tackles.
As noted, the Cardinal defence is something of a wonder, ranked in third position for their total defence of an average of 282.4 yards per game in 2014. The team’s passing game was also a spectacle, with QB Kevin Hogan completing 232 of his attempted 352 passes. 22 rushing touchdowns and 20 receiving touchdowns provided Stanford with a stellar season.
The Wildcats have lost their starting quarterback in Trevor Siemian, but his absence won’t be noticed considering he threw just seven touchdowns compared to the 11 interceptions in his senior year. Freshman, Clayton Thorson may be used as starter this year, and if he can combine with rookie wide receiver, Flynn Nagel, Northwestern may provide an instant impact against the Cardinal. Include the solid running back in Justin Jackson, who ran for 1187 yards and 100 touchdowns on 245 carries last season, and the Wildcats may have a chance at pulling out a victory.
Northwestern will need its strong offence to be put into action to make up for the gaps in its often wobbly defence. The Wildcats pass’ rush was quite disappointing last year, recording just 17 total sacks for the whole season. Receiving touchdowns of 10 alongside reception of 2598 yards altogether in 2014 gave the Wildcats a volatile season, with a total of 486 carries.
Stanford at Northwestern Betting Trends
Stanford is 17-8 straight up in their last 25 games overall.
The Cardinals are 2-4 against the spread in their last 6 road games.
The game total has gone under in 9 of Stanford’s last 10 road games.
Northwestern is 6-16 against the spread in their last 22 games.
The Wildcats are 2-9 straight up in their last 11 home games.
Injury Report
There are no injuries to report for this first game of the season.
Consensus Pick ATS
Stanford: 62%
Northwestern: 38%
Free College Football Pick
The Wildcats offense was not a strong point last season, but their main weakness was their run defense allowing six opponents to run for over 200 yards. The run game got on track late for the Cardinal surging over the 200 yard mark in three straight to close out the season. It’s an early game which helps Northwestern and if the Wildcats can slow down the Stanford running attack they will struggle. Last season they were held to 150 yards less four times in FBS games and their scoring offense wilted averaging 12.5 points per game. Northwestern scored over 30 points per game in their final three games and while none of the games came against a defense as strong on paper as Stanford’s it was certainly a good sign. Note that the Wildcats put up 43 against the Fighting Irish in a 43-40 upset which is the same team the Cardinal lost 17-14 last season.
Take the Northwestern Wildcats +12 @ BETONLINE.AG (WIN)
