Illinois at Arizona State

The Fighting Illini had a crazy season last year that called for change. They opened impressively with six straight wins, looking like they were a surprise contender in the Big-10. That quickly changed as they lost their last six games, but went out and won their Bowl game to finish 7-6. This season they opened with a win at home vs. Western Michigan 24-7. It wasn't nearly as good as it looked. Illinois was out-gained in the game, and finished with just 248 total yards, despite four turnovers by Western Michigan. The Broncos also won the possession and the first downs battles. QB Nathan Scheelhasse left late in the game with an ankle injury, but will play this week, but likely not at 100%. Last year he led the Illinois offense which gained just 277 yards per game in their last seven, and things sure look like they haven’t gotten any better. Arizona cruised to a 63-6 thrashing of Northern Arizona. This is a team with one of the top offensive lines in the country, and they will be hard to stop, but will also shorten the game. The Sun Devils have some unfinished business, and will be gunning to over-turn a 3-point loss at Illinois last year in a game they out-gained them by 120 yards. Illinois has no offense, but their defense is good enough to keep the score down. But I don't think that they can win this on playing one side of the ball. That lack of offense has led Illinois to a 13-3 UNDER mark in their last 16, including 7-0 out of conference. Arizona State has played 10 of their last 14 out of conference to the UNDER as well. Play Arizona State and take the UNDER in this one.