Western Michigan Nebraska Line, Spread & College Football Picks
August 28, 2008
The scene will be Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska as the Nebraska Cornhuskers play host to the Western Michigan Broncos Saturday, August 30th at 7 PM EST. Both of these teams are trying to bounce back from disappointing years in 2007. Western Michigan had two straight winning seasons before becoming derailed last year at 5-7. The team ran into trouble when they started the season off 0-3, so the focus this year is in picking up wins early, which may be a difficult task against a strong Big 12 opponent. However, 16 players return giving the Broncos some hope. Nebraska ended the Bill Callahan experiment with a 5-7 season. Enter Bo Pelini who was the defensive coordinator several years ago at Nebraska before moving on to Oklahoma and LSU. Nebraska gets five straight home games to start the season off and the good news is that this team has won 22 straight season openers to own the nation’s longest winning streak. Nebraska is also hoping to jump off to a quick start, not only to assure the faithful that Pelini is the right guy for the job, but also since they finish the year out by playing four teams who finished in the top 10 a year ago. The early point spread sees Nebraska as a 14 point favorite over Western Michigan.
Western Michigan struggled to run the ball last year, and with only two starters coming back it’ll be tough to do much better than the 3.4 ypc they posted. Mark Bonds will be the main ball carrier and he did have 4.4 ypc while splitting carries, but the top priority for this line is pass protection for Tim Hiller, who had 20 touchdowns while completing 63.4% of his passes for 3,021 yards a year ago. He also has a First Team All-MAC wide receiver in Jamarko Simmons to throw to, who had 84 receptions, four 100-yard receiving games, and four multi-touchdown games as a junior.
The Bronco defense needs to work on stopping the run as they allowed 179 ypg a year go, but with 10 players returning who have started at some point, that number should go down. Defensive end is a strength with Zach Davidson and Greg Marshell, who combined for 23.5 tackles for loss and 13 sacks in 2007. Boston McCornell leads the linebackers after a 99 tackle season and the secondary has amassed 25 career interceptions among their four returning starters. With the pressure the ends put on the quarterback, we expect more big things out of this pass defense again in 2008. If you like Western Michigan then take the betting line at +14 at Bookmaker.
Nebraska didn’t have many problems scoring a year ago when they averaged 33.4 ppg, but this year’s team will renew their focus to the ground game since Marlon Lucky’s 1,019 yards return. Lucky was the Big 12’s leading rusher and only the second Husker back since 2001 to break the 1,000 yard mark. Lucky is also a threat out of the backfield and after breaking the old school record for receptions by 20 on his way to 75 catches for 705 yards. Joe Gantz replaced Sam Keller late in the year and was nothing short of spectacular, but he doesn’t have a real proven threat at wideout. Four starters return to the line though, so he’ll have plenty of time to throw and Lucky should have some big holes to hit.
Nebraska should be able to pressure the quarterback with their front four, and ends Zach Potter and Barry Turner have shown they are more than capable of getting to the passer. They’ll be joined by Ty Steinkuhler and Ndamukong Suh, who missed significant time due to injuries. There isn’t much at linebacker unless Phillip Dillard can prove himself quickly, but hte secondary has a solid corner in Armando Murillo and a nice safety in Larry Asante. Whatever happens Pelini should be able to use his defensive expertise to help this team do better than the 38 ppg and 480 ypg they posted last season, worst in school history. If you plan on betting on Nebraska then you’ll lay 14 points with the odds at BetUS.
Prediction:
Nebraska 38
Western Michigan 24
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