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Illinois v. Missouri Football Lines & Picks

Written by Jimmy Boyd

illinois mizzou 9309 The Illinois Fighting Illini and the Missouri Tigers clash Saturday, September 5th at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis in the Border War. Missouri leads the all-time series 15-7 and has certainly had the upper hand in recent years, but this is the season college football lines makers feel the Illini will get the job done. Find out if I agree in this free NCAA football picks preview. Illinois is listed as a 6.5-point favorite with the total set at 61.

Last year Chase Daniel and Jeremy Maclin helped Mizzou win 52-42 in a shootout. But now head coach Gary Pinkel takes the field with a young team that lost most of its fire power. Illinois brings back its main cast of stars and is hoping to get revenge over the Tigers while proving that its 2007 run to the Rose Bowl was no fluke. A win for the Illini in Saturday’s opener could be the confidence booster it needs to pave the way for a special year, but it will have to overcome some daunting history to do so as it is 0-5 all-time in neutral-site openers and has lost four previous meetings with Mizzou in the Edward Jones Dome.

The good news for Illinois is that Chase Daniel has moved on. While new starting quarterback Blaine Gabbert has all the tools to be Mizzou’s next great signal caller, I’m sure the Illini would rather take their chances with him, especially since he hasn’t proved anything yet. The Tigers also lose Jeremy Maclin, an absolute burner who was valuable as a receiver and a return man. Mizzou does bring back its top tailback, Derrick Washington, who rushed for 1,036 yards and 17 scores last season. Expect the Tigers to run the football more to ease Gabbert in, but that could play right into Illinois’ hands. After all, Mizzou has been at its most explosive offensively in the passing game.

Defensively, Mizzou has some nice linebackers, most notably Sean Weatherspoon, but the line is green, and the secondary ranked 117th in the country in pass defense a season ago.

Juice Williams returns as quarterback of the Illini and that has to have the Mizzou coaching staff shaking their heads. Williams gave the Tigers fits last season, and went on to throw for 3,173 yards and 22 touchdowns and added 719 yards and five more scores on the ground. The Tigers will have their work cut out for themselves in trying to cover No. 1 wideout Arrelious Benn, who is coming off a 1,000-yard receiving season. And the team is also excited about Florida transfer Jarred Fayson getting on the field to make teams think twice before doubling Benn.

Defensively, the losses of Brit Miller and Vontae Davis hurt, and you will see many new faces up front. But I expect Illinois’ defense to be much better than it was in this game last year. Head coach Ron Zook admitted to going light in contact drills prior to last season, but this year he has taken a much more physical approach. Led by linebacker Martez Wilson, who is on the Butkus Award watch list, expect Illinois to tackle much better in this year’s game and to be much more prepared for its physical demands right out of the gate.

Losing playmakers like Chase Daniel and Jeremy Maclin will be too much for the Tigers to overcome here. Couple that with the fact that Illinois is after some serious revenge in this matchup, and I expect to see the Illini come out on top and cover the number in the process. Bet Illinois to win at -6.5 at BetUS and get up to 145% in sign up bonuses!

Note: If you’re planning on doing some college football betting this week, make sure you check out all of Jimmy Boyd’s premium football picks, especially his 5 Star 2009 Non-Conference Game of the Year going Saturday.

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