Sam Clayton
**22-9 with 25 dime selections, No. 23 goes today!**
25 dime - Missouri/Illinois Under 59
As a long time Illinois fan, I'm not so confident laying this many points with such a hit or miss offense, but I'm digging the under as I think we're in for a tough battle. All the ESPN analysts are forecasting a high-flying, high scoring contest, but I really believe this game is going to be a grind -- just like all the other games that were supposed to be shootouts. Boise State O/U 63: UNDER. Tulsa O/U 61: UNDER. Troy O/U 56: UNDER. Vegas has extremely overhyped the higher total plays and thanks to the public's love for lots of scoring, the over's have been hit hard.
When it comes to the Fighting Illini, it all starts and ends with quarterback Juice Williams. "The Juice" is supposedly on the loose this year for his senior season, I'm not sold on his ability to keep this high-octane offense flowing. Williams was mediocre last season to say the least given all his high expectations and I really think he comes out trying to keep things slow and tries to actually manage the offense. And with a plethora of runningbacks (Dufrene, Pollard, Ford, etc.), we'll see a lot of different looks from a lot of different players for the Illini. Last year, Illinois scored 20 points against UL Lafayette, 20 against Minnesota, 17 against Wisconsin, 17 against Western Michigan and 10 against Northwestern. I will admit when the Juice is on, he's lights out, but he's shown all throughout his career that he's inconsistent and when the Juice is pressured (or squeezed) he's horrendous. Until this offense starts lighting up the scoreboard, I'm all over the under.
Missouri lost most of their offensive production as Chase Daniel, Jeremy Maclin, Chase Coffman are all gone and I think this offense will be sluggish out of the gate. Tigers' head coach Gary Pinkel knows that a stiff defense is the key to this ball game and you know for a fact that he's seen the Juice twice and he's been scouting him all summer long. Give a coaching staff all offseason to prepare for a high-octane offense like the Illini's and I'm sure they'll be more than ready to counter it. Mizzou knows they are not going to be able to compete in a shootout and they will obviously try and run minutes off the clock to try and keep the pace of the game slow. Sean Witherspoon and the tremendous Tigers' linebacking core are going to be essential to the 'D' and given their talent and experience, I think they'll hold Illinois under 30 points. Everybody and their mother is pounding the over today, but knowing Mizzou's intentions to keep this a low scoring affair, I'll go the other way.
Play the UNDER.
**22-9 with 25 dime selections, No. 23 goes today!**
25 dime - Missouri/Illinois Under 59
As a long time Illinois fan, I'm not so confident laying this many points with such a hit or miss offense, but I'm digging the under as I think we're in for a tough battle. All the ESPN analysts are forecasting a high-flying, high scoring contest, but I really believe this game is going to be a grind -- just like all the other games that were supposed to be shootouts. Boise State O/U 63: UNDER. Tulsa O/U 61: UNDER. Troy O/U 56: UNDER. Vegas has extremely overhyped the higher total plays and thanks to the public's love for lots of scoring, the over's have been hit hard.
When it comes to the Fighting Illini, it all starts and ends with quarterback Juice Williams. "The Juice" is supposedly on the loose this year for his senior season, I'm not sold on his ability to keep this high-octane offense flowing. Williams was mediocre last season to say the least given all his high expectations and I really think he comes out trying to keep things slow and tries to actually manage the offense. And with a plethora of runningbacks (Dufrene, Pollard, Ford, etc.), we'll see a lot of different looks from a lot of different players for the Illini. Last year, Illinois scored 20 points against UL Lafayette, 20 against Minnesota, 17 against Wisconsin, 17 against Western Michigan and 10 against Northwestern. I will admit when the Juice is on, he's lights out, but he's shown all throughout his career that he's inconsistent and when the Juice is pressured (or squeezed) he's horrendous. Until this offense starts lighting up the scoreboard, I'm all over the under.
Missouri lost most of their offensive production as Chase Daniel, Jeremy Maclin, Chase Coffman are all gone and I think this offense will be sluggish out of the gate. Tigers' head coach Gary Pinkel knows that a stiff defense is the key to this ball game and you know for a fact that he's seen the Juice twice and he's been scouting him all summer long. Give a coaching staff all offseason to prepare for a high-octane offense like the Illini's and I'm sure they'll be more than ready to counter it. Mizzou knows they are not going to be able to compete in a shootout and they will obviously try and run minutes off the clock to try and keep the pace of the game slow. Sean Witherspoon and the tremendous Tigers' linebacking core are going to be essential to the 'D' and given their talent and experience, I think they'll hold Illinois under 30 points. Everybody and their mother is pounding the over today, but knowing Mizzou's intentions to keep this a low scoring affair, I'll go the other way.
Play the UNDER.
