Week 10 Predictions: Huskers at Illini

Jarek: This might be a good thing I’m first this week. We need to shake up the order because I’m superstitious…

Mike: Very superstitious
Nothing more to say
Very superstitious
The devil’s on his way
Thirteen month old baby
Broke the looking glass
Seven years of bad luck
Good things in your past

Jill: The “good things in your past” line feels very apropos for Husker football right now.

Andy: What’s wild to me is people being angrier about close, and, yes, f***ing heartbreaking, Husker losses to good teams than they were about having the brakes beat off of them three straight to finish out last season. I’m mad, but I see the improvement and I’m still in. Of course, I also recognize there’s supernatural shit at work here and we’ve got to do something about that. Voodoo, virgins, bonfires, Ouija, the Necronomican and Ash from The Evil Dead may be required.

UCLA (-5) at Minnesota

Jarek: I really thought Minnesota was going to pull over the upset against Indiana last week, and would have if it wasn’t for those pesky field goal kickers who know how to do their job. UCLA hasn’t been tested, even with their backup QB. Peej will have the Gophers ready to row again, but I think they will have that big game hangover like we did against a West Coast team. UCLA 20 Minnesota 13

Mike: I’d like to think the Bruins will mop the floor with the Goofs, but this is a Big Nine AM Kickoff for UCLA. So expect it to be a bit clunky, which is just how Fleck likes it. Bruins 23, Goofers 17

Jon: This game is at Minnesota. The weather is dropping down to into the 40s, and the game is at 11. Is that enough? Yeah, why not. Minnesota 23, UCLA 20

Jill: I dunno what to think. The logistics all favor the home team and we all want MOAR CHAOS but I’ll pick the Bruins. UCLA 28 Minnesota 21

Andy: I’m going against the tide here. UCLA has had a nice run, but they hold zero wins against currently ranked teams (I’m not counting the CFP rankings, because those were just weird.) They’ll be kicking off at 9am their time and Peej’s den will be spitting fire to knock them off their perch. Goofs 20 Bears 17

Oregon (+7.5) at Ohio State

Jarek: Ohio State looked a lot of rough around the edges with their new QB. There are rumors that Jeremiah Smith could sit the rest of the season if Ohio State loses again. Dylan Raiola seems to have figured out how to work with his new friends, and that doesn’t bode well for Ohio State. I think an upset here. Oregon 31 Ohio State 24

Mike: Not sure things could have gone any worse for the Bucknuts last week. I think they bounce back in B1G Time on CBS. Bucknuts 28, Quackers 17

Jon: It’s at Columbus. Oregon sucks on the road. OTOH, Oregon has an incredible front seven on defense. Like I said about Ohio State vs USC, the Buckeyes are terrible at running the ball. Oregon 20, Ohio State 17, and Ryan Day seat blows up.

Jill: When in doubt, go with the home team? Yep, let’s do that. Ohio State 21 Oregon 19

Andy: Dylan clicked against Northwestern, but he has literally been a rollercoaster this season, which means it’s time for the swing down. Yes, Luke Fahey had shaky moments, but it wasn’t an overall terrible performance by any means, and there’s generally marked improvement between someone’s first and second starts. Ohio St. 27 Oregon 17

Penn State (+2.5) at Washington

Jarek: I will go back to a school of thought that worked when the Big Ten expanded to the west. If you are traveling multiple time zones, it causes problems. Buoyed by a solid road win (across multiple time zones, I know) Washington looks to have gotten their mojo back a little. Iowa State East has struggled to adjust to the Big Ten, and now they have to go to the other ocean. Washington wins. Washington 24 Penn State 17

Mike: I think with Demond Williams getting the start, the Washington team that looked fearsome last summer might be back. Dawgs 34, Nitts 21

Jon: It’d be just like Penn State to win this game just to make everybody feel bad. Penn State 48, Washington 2

Jill: Yep, home team. Huskies 32 Lions 24

Andy: Some folks blowing up last weekend yapped about Washington being a lousy team. They’re definitely playing below expectations, but lousy they’re not. Penn State finally grabbed a Big 10 win (Purdue), but their fans are probably having a little buyer’s remorse with that 1-4 conference record while Va Tech is sitting at 6-2. Their mood won’t improve Saturday. Washington 27 Nittaninnies 19

Iowa (+2.5) at Northwestern

Jarek: This is a weird one to decide for me. Is Northwestern really that good? Has Iowa figured out its QB situation? Can Iowa legitimately throw the ball around the yard again? I want Northwestern to win, but unfortunately know better than to go against the Hawks in this case. Iowa 24 Northwestern 21

Mike: Northwestern seems to be Iowa’s kryptonite at times. Lots of one score games…but very few two score games. Quite a few blowouts by the Squawkeyes over the years, though. Iowa has alternated between looking like a playoff team and being LOLOWA from week to week. Last week against Wisconsin, they looked CFP ready. But that was then…this game is in Northwestern’s cozy new home which is going to be difficult for opponents to fill. Wildkitties 21, Squawks 18

Jon: I agree with Mike and that Northwestern’s new stadium is going to be difficult for teams to play. Also, Iowa, just a weird team. They made so many mistakes when they played against Minnesota. It would be nice to do that against North. Northwestern 32, Iowa 10

Jill: Northwestern has looked better than expected. They have fancy new digs. And effff Iowa. Wildcats 17 Hawkeyes 14

Andy: Like Dylan, Iowa’s on a roller coaster and it’s time to head back down. A goodly number of Hawkeye Cleti making the trip will miss a chunk of the game after going to Soldier field by mistake and then staring blankly for a half hour or so, but they’ll be glad they did. ↖️‘rn 22 Iowa 19

Nebraska (-4.5) at Illinois

Jarek: There are so many things that go against us. Bret Bielema eats us for lunch. We haven’t won a Friday game since Mickey Joseph beat Iowa 3 AND A HALF YEARS AGO! We have led at the beginning of the 4th quarter in every single ballgame, and somehow peed and pooped the last 3 down our leg. I know we are favored, but I’m not sure why or how. Illinois struggled against Maryland last week, but this is a different animal. I hope we win…Illinois 27 Nebraska 17

Mike: Yeah, it’s like Charlie Brown trying to kick the football from Lucy’s hold. Bert knows how to beat Nebraska, but I don’t think the Illini knows how to score enough in the fourth quarter. They’ve only topped 21 points in conference games once, against Michigan State. I’ll have to wait until Saturday to watch this one, thanks to high school football. (Thanks for nuttin, Fox.) Huskers 24, Fightin’ Berts 17

Jon: Once again, we’ll be playing against the stacked box, urging Anthony Calandria to throw deep. If he can make those throws and the receivers actually catch the ball, we could have a pretty decent offense. Put it this way, if we can score 20 points in the first half against this team, we may hang on. I’d say the key to this game is us scoring 24 points. I don’t have a lot of faith that we’re going to do that. Husker 24, Illini 23 7/8

Jill: The #5 Jackrabbits travel to an unranked Northern Iowa team that has runs hot and cold, but mostly cold. I do not think the Jacks will stumble against an unranked team twice in the same season. SDSU 46 UNI 20

Andy: How quickly we forget.

We last defeated Bert and Illinois on a Friday in 2023 a year after the Iowa victory in 2022. And the visiting team in the Illinois series has won 6 of the last 8 games. The Huskers have won 3 of those – and 2 of those 3 came on a Friday night.

Now the bad news is we’re on a 3-game losing streak and, barring a sudden and determined lightning storm, a 4th quarter will be played. And, yeah, Bert does pretty well against us, no doubt.

But that’s ok, this will be our night. No idea why and do I really need a reason? Well, we are the better team. Now, that in and of itself is hardly ever enough – we’ve been the better team in all eight games, right? Except for the last 9:11 of the last three when we’ve gone down in flames after standing tall for the other 170:49. Well, enough’s enough. The offense will balance things out and start clicking again. The Blackshirts will Blackshirt. I have no idea why, but I feel good about this one. Maybe I just want to see the “I quit Husker football!! (Again🙄)” crowd take one in the teeth. Huskers 27 Illinois 17