Penn State vs Northwestern
Saturday, September 5
Beaver Stadium, University Park, PA
Knee-Jerk Instant Analysis: Northwestern won two in a row in the series before Penn State came up with the victory in 2017. Now both teams are in an interesting spot and it’ll only be Week 1.
Penn State has the talent and the upside – even without Micah Parsons – to pull off the Big Ten Championship with a little bit of luck, and Northwestern has the defense to show it’s a LOT better than the 2019 version that couldn’t seem to do much of anything right.
Get ready for Northwestern to muck it up.
It’s going to be ugly, it’s going to be slow, and it’s going to be exactly the way the Wildcats like it. The offense might not be able to do anything amazing, but it’ll do it at about four miles per hour to take control of the tempo.
Penn State is too good and too explosive to be held down for a full 60 minutes, but it’s going to be in for a too-tough battle.
First Thought Prediction: Penn State 24, Northwestern 17
First Thought Line Guess: Penn State -13.5
– Big Ten Schedule Released: 5 Things That Matter
Michigan vs Purdue
Saturday, September 5
Michigan Stadium, Ann Arbor, MI
Knee-Jerk Instant Analysis: It’s the start of a brutal beginning for both teams. Michigan follows this up with a trip to Minnesota and a date with Penn State, and the Boilermakers host Iowa and Ohio State over the following two weeks.
Can the Wolverine secondary hold up against what’s coming?
Purdue will throw and keep throwing to get its amazing receiving corps involved right away, but yeah, Michigan will have one of the best groups of defensive backs in the conference.
Michigan’s running game will ease in the new quarterback in a conservative, efficient win that might not make the fan base all that excited, but it’ll be a good start.
First Thought Prediction: Michigan 38, Purdue 20
First Thought Line Guess: Michigan -16.5