Northwestern vs. Wisconsin Prediction 10/19/24 College Football Picks

The Wisconsin Badgers and Northwestern Wildcats meet Saturday in a college football game at Lanny and Sharon Martin Stadium. Here’s a prediction between Northwestern and Wisconsin. We’ll look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best choice between Northwestern and Wisconsin.

Wisconsin Badgers betting preview

The Badgers won their first two games this year, beating Western Michigan 28-14 and South Dakota 27-13. Wisconsin’s next two matchups were losses to Alabama (42-10) and USC (38-21) before a stunning 52-6 victory over Purdue.

In last weekend’s Rutgers matchup, Wisconsin scored 14 points in three different quarters in a 42-7 win. Braedyn Locke threw for 240 yards, a TD and a pick. Tawee Walker carried 24 balls for 198 yards and three scores, while Vinny Anthony caught two balls for 81 yards.

Northwestern Wildcats Betting Preview

Over on the Northwestern side, they went 2-1 in their first three games, with a loss to Duke in OT 26-20 sandwiched between wins over Miami-OH 13-6 and Eastern Illinois 31-7. The Wildcats lost their next pair 24-5 to Washington and 41-24 to Indiana.

Against Maryland, the Wildcats were up 17-7 early in the fourth quarter. From there, Northwestern scored another 20 points for a 37-10 score. QB Jack Lausch threw for 203 yards and scored a rush TD. Bryce Kirtz caught three balls for 123 yards.

Northwestern vs Wisconsin Prediction

I might try Northwestern here. The Wildcats had a great defensive performance in their last win over Maryland, holding the Terrapins to 355 yards on 296 passes and 4.2 yards per play on just 6 of 15 on third-down attempts. The key factor, however, was the four takeaways (three fumbles). However, Northwestern wasn’t particularly strong on offense, gaining 283 yards (203 passes), 10 first downs and 3 of 12 converting third downs. That side of the ball certainly needs improvement this weekend.

As for Wisconsin, they had an impressive performance against Rutgers with 549 yards (309 rushing) and 24 first downs. The Badgers’ only real flaw were the two turnovers. Northwestern really needs to step up its run defense this weekend to slow down the Badgers, but I think the Wildcats can cover if they play to their potential.