Utah
vs.
Michigan
Free College
Football Pick
9/20/14
In what seems to be the norm with the Wolverines over the last few years, the team looks set to disappoint and many fans are calling for a new head coach, ousting Brady Hoke. Most of those calls came after their 31-0 loss at Notre Dame as a 4-point underdog. Now, coming off a win against a lowly MAC school, Michigan opened as a -5.5 point home favorite against Utah at Sportsbook.ag.
As of Tuesday morning, Utah has drawn 65% of the betting action on this Game which isn’t surprising at all considering recent results.
Michigan got back on the winning end against Miami (OH) last weekend, but that doesn’t mean a whole lot, especially when they were tied 10-10 at one point. For this team to win and cover Games, Devin Gardner cannot make mistakes and Derrick Green has to be successful. While the defense isn’t dominant, they are a solid group that can keep teams in reach.
Utah is far from an easy task with Travis Wilson leading the way. He has started the season on fire (6 TDs, 0 INTs), but that rate will have to slow down eventually considering his career rate of 23 TDs and 22 INTs before this season. Nevertheless, Wilson is an elusive quarterback with experience and options like Dres Anderson and Kenneth SCott.
The Wolverines have a solid run defense and if they can contain the committee of Utes RBs like Devontae Booker and Bubba Poole, then they’ll be in a good position. If Utah can find holes, that will only open things up for Wilson and that could mean trouble. Having to travel to Michigan could also play a factor here, but there’s no arguing the confidence of Utah is higher than their opposition.
The Utes haven’t had a real challenge yet this season in wins over Idaho State and Fresno State, so this is their first real test.
If Michigan loses this Game, no one will be surprised because the state of the Big Ten is in the gutter right now. Gardner is a boom or bust quarterback as seen in his 5 TDs and 4 INTs this year. Green is a stud at running back, but if defenses can focus on that and not worry about Gardner, then it doesn’t work out. Devin Funchess is Gardner’s favorite target by far and everyone knows it.
The Utes have covered in Four straight Games against the Big Ten, but are only 2-6 ATS in their last eight road Games. The Wolverines are 8-3 ATS in their last 11 home Games, but have not covered in seven straight against the Pac-12.
It’s only Tuesday as we write up this Game. With that in mind, we still have some work to do on this one. However, we’ll leave you with this. The Utes are no joke. They may have only been 5-7 a year ago and missed qualifying for a Bowl Game, but they beat Utah State, BYU and Stanford and went toe to toe with UCLA, Arizona State. This was a pretty good 5-7 team.
Our Pick – This Game opened as high as Michigan -7. The betting public LOVES the Utes in this Game. So much so that it’ now possible to get Michigan -3 -117 or so. The value in this Game at this line now lies with Michigan. We’ll go ahead and buck the public and the big line move and take the Wolverines -3 -117 or better