Illinois vs Indiana Odds: Visiting Illinois Looks to Pull off Upset
Indiana Looks to Rebound from Frustrating 2-10 Season Hampered by Injury
Teams Predicted to Finish at Bottom of Big Ten Square off on Friday
There are other Big Ten games that will generate more buzz, but with Indiana and Illinois among the five teams with the longest odds to win the conference title, Friday’s showdown will give one of them a chance to get the 2022 season off to a strong start.
One thing to consider when looking at the Illinois vs Indiana odds, Indiana (+10000) has the worst odds to win the Big Ten East Division title while Illinois (+3000) is at the bottom in the Big Ten West Division.
There should be new faces at quarterback for both teams. Former Syracuse QB is now at Illinois while Missouri‘s Connor Bazelak has been fighting it out with reserve quarterback Jack Tuttle for the starting job for Indiana.
Each of the last eight games between the teams has been decided by at least 10 points so it will be worth watching to see if that trend ends this week.
Illinois is looking to open the season with two consecutive wins for the fourth time in the last six seasons. Indiana has won eight of its last 10 season openers. The Hoosiers are 1-2 against Big Ten teams in the first game of the year over that span.
Illinois vs Indiana Game Information
- Matchup: Illinois 1-0 (0-0 in the Big Ten) Indiana 2-10 in 2021 (0-9 in the Big Ten)
- Location: Memorial Stadium, Bloomington, Indiana
- Date/Time:
- TV: FS1
Brown in Midseason Form for Illinois
Coming off a 1,000-yard season, Chase Brown picked up where he left off in a season-opening win over Wyoming.
Brown ran 19 times for 151 yards and two touchdowns in the 38-6 win. It was the seventh career game with at least 100 yards for the Fighting Illini.
DeVito completed 27 of 37 passes for 194 yards and a pair of touchdowns in his Illinois debut. A total of 12 different players caught passes. Still, when it comes to the Illinois vs Indiana odds, the Fighting Illini come into the game as three-point underdog.
A total of 10 freshmen or sophomores recorded tackles in the win. Sophomores Jer’Zhan Newtonw and Keith Randolph each had six tackles as Illinois limited Wyoming to 212 yards of total offense. That is the fewest number of yards allowed by an Illinois defense since the 2019 season opener.
Indiana Looking for More Offense in 2022
As recently as the 2019 season, Indiana finished in the top three in the Big Ten in total offense. The wheels fell off a season ago as Indiana ranked last in the conference with an average of 289.7 yards per game. The 2019 campaign ended a run when the Hoosiers averaged more than 400 yards eight times in nine seasons with two seasons surpassing 500 yards per game.
Having leading rusher Stephen Carr back should help in the Hoosiers’ quest to become more explosive on offense in 2022. Tight end Peyton Hendershot, who led Indiana with 46 catches and 543 yards is also back.
The Indiana coaching staff is not revealing whether Bazelak or Jack Tuttle is the starting quarterback. Tuttle has four touchdown passes and six interceptions in 15 career games with the Hoosiers. Bazelak threw 23 touchdowns with 17 interceptions in three seasons at Missouri.
The Indiana defense lost five of its top 10 tacklers. Linebackers Cam Jones and defensive back Devon Matthews are the top two tacklers. It is hard to know how to view the Indiana football betting trends until seeing how well the defense meshes in 2022.
Illinois vs Indiana Head to Head
The teams haven’t met in five years.
Indiana has won the last three matchups with Illinois and that includes a 24-14 win on the road in 2017. Illinois had won four of the previous five games against Indiana before the Hoosiers turned the tide.
Illinois hasn’t played at Indiana since 2013 and hasn’t won in Bloomington since 2011. Each of the last two times Indiana played host to Illinois, the game finished over the total.
Illinois vs Indiana Injury Update
While none of these injuries should impact the Illinois vs Indiana odds, quarterback Donovan Leary is out indefinitely for Illinois. Running back Josh McCray is questionable.
For Indiana, receiver D.J. Matthews (knee) is probable.
Illinois vs Indiana Betting Analysis
Neither the Fighting Illini nor the Hoosiers lit up the scoreboard a season ago as they finished 11th and 13th in the Big Ten in scoring offense. For Indiana, improving a team that surrendered a conference-high 33.3 points per game is a key. When looking at the college football odds, there is a surprisingly low total of 47.5 points in this showdown considering the defensive struggles by both teams.
The team that won the last 14 games in the series also covered against the college football lines.
The total has gone under in eight of the last 11 Illinois games and in four of the last five road games.
Indiana covered against the college football odds spread in just one of its last 10 games a season ago and has lost nine straight Big Ten games. Before an absurd number of season-ending injuries sabotaged Indiana’s 2021 season, the Hoosiers covered in the final eight games of the 2020 campaign. The one positive to come out of the difficult 2021 season for Indiana is that the injuries to key players forced the Indiana coaching staff to give quality playing time to more players than they would have had in a typical season.
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