Game of the Week: Nebraska vs. Northwestern

The season kicks off in Ireland with a Big Ten battle between two teams that lost their lat six games of the 2021 season. In fact, Nebraska's last win of 2021 was a 56-7 rout over Northwestern. Cornhuskers coach Scott Frost enters the season on one of the hottest seats in the country, and the prevailing theory is that he needs to reach a bowl game, at minimum, to keep his job. Winning this game would be a boost to that goal. Northwestern, meanwhile, won the Big Ten West in 2020, but followed that up with a 3-9 effort in 2021 after the defense fell off a cliff under first-year defensive coordinator Jim O'Neil.

Honestly, this game isn't easy to figure out. Since the spread gives Nebraska a little too much credit, the under seems like the smarter play. The Huskers have a new offensive coordinator, Mark Whipple, who helped lead Pitt to an ACC title last season, and a new QB in Texas transfer Casey Thompson. It's not unreasonable to expect all of these new parts to stumble out of the gate. Also, O'Neil is entering his second year as the Wildcats' DC, and a young defense is now older. Given that defense is a big part of the program's identity, I expect the Wildcats to stiffen up in 2022. Even if they don't, I'm not expecting their offense to score a bunch of points. I see a low-scoring affair regardless of Nebraska's margin of victory, and Northwestern's path to winning isn't a shootout. Every way I break this game down suggests going with the under. Nebraska 24, Northwestern 14 | Under 50.5