Cincinnati
vs.
Michigan
College Football Pick
9/9/17
There were a lot of questions for Michigan football entering the season with so many players gone, but those questions were quelled after taking down Florida in the opener. The Wolverines looked so dominant that this line jumped to -34.5 (at 5Dimes Sportsbook) against Cincinnati. Making things more interesting, the over/under was still hovering around 50 points.
Last year in this spot against an AAC team, Michigan ripped through UCF in a 51-14 win. The Knights happened to beat Cincinnati 24-3 last season. While it’s a new year, the Bearcats still aren’t expected to be much better, even in head coach LUke Fickell’s first season.
Starting with Michigan’s offense, there are plenty of questions to answer, especially after Wilton Speight threw back-to-back pick 6s against the Gators. With new receivers around him, he didn’t look like the same quarterback, although some of that credit goes to the Florida defense. All that being said, the Wolverines still ran for 215 yards with Ty Isaac and Chris Evans leading the way.
Something Cincinnati doesn’t have is a good defense with just Four starters returning. The Bearcats barely got past Austin Peay in the opener and gave up 224 rushing yards in the process. With that being the case, it wouldn’t be surprising if Michigan ran up the Scoreagain on an AAC school. While Speight still has some kinks to work out, the Wolverines could reach close to 300 rushing yards and that’s why the spread is so high.
On the other side, Cincinnati will have issues scoring, similar to Florida last week. This UM defense remains a dominant group and throttled anything the Gators did, namely holding them to 11 rushing yards on 27 carries (sacks included). The Bearcats have some experience between quarterback Hayden Moore and running back Mike Boone, but after they scored just 26 points on Austin Peay, this matchup could present even more problems. If Cincy could only garner 3.3 yards per carry against Austin Peay, it’s a wonder how they’ll do against Michigan. Because of that, Moore will need to step up if the Bearcats want any chance of competing or covering.
A lot of the early money went to Michigan and this line will probably grow every day. After such a dominant opening Game on the defensive side with a stout running attack, this result could look similar to some of the big wins the Wolverines had last season. The Bearcats have a new coach, but after a struggling opening performance against an FCS school, this team could have even more questions to answer after this Game.
Michigan will continue doing what it does and that’s running the ball down the opposing team’s throat, while dominating on the defensive side. That could equal another fairly easy cover for the Wolverines with them possibly being able to hold Cincy down to 10 points or less.
Our Pick – Michigan/Cinci OVER 50