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CFB
(9/8/23) 7:30PM Eastern.
Spread: Illinois +3 / Kansas -3
ML: Illinois +140 / Kansas -160
Over/Under 58.5
Free Pick: Over 58.5
Neither defense looked impressive opening weekend. Illinois let Toledo score 28 points on them and Kansas let an FCS program, Missouri State, score 17. Illinois lost a lot of defensive talent to the NFL draft from last year and the Kansas Jayhawks fielded one of College Football's worst defenses in 2023.
The most concerning part of the 28 points Illinois let Toledo score was it's rush defense. Toledo ran for 186 yards last week. When a Big Ten teams plays against a Non-Power 5, they're supposed to dominate the trenches. They did not. They also registered just 1 sack despite Toledo's QB throwing it 36 times.
They face a Kansas offense that returns 4 of their 5 starting offensive lineman and it's practically 5 with the amount of reps the backup saw last season. They led the Jayhawks offense to an average of 33.9 points per game in 2022, which ranked 22nd among FBS programs.
They didn't miss a beat in their opener, scoring 48 points while amassing 521 yards against Missouri State. Which is what they're supposed to do to an FCS program. Big ticker is no procedural penalties. The offense had 1 unsportsmanlike conduct call, other than that not a single penalty. That was also with their back-up QB. The electric starter, Jalon Daniels, is set to return for this game.
While Illinois's defense looked suspect, the new look offense looked good. Luke Altmyer came over from Ole Miss to play QB and impressed. He completed 18 of 26 passes for 2 touchdowns and 1 interception. He did that against a good Toledo secondary. Last season the Rockets ranked 17th in the FBS allowing just 191.8 passing yards per game and returned most of their production from 2022. Say what you want about the MAC, but it's primarily an offensive conference.
The Kansas defense is plain terrible too. They ranked 127th of 131 FBS programs allowing 37.6 points per game last year. They ranked 125th allowing 218.8 rushing yards per game and 117th allowing 273.8 passing yards per game. I mean an FCS team just scored 17 points on them, 10 of which came in the first half against their true starters.
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