By Dallas Jones

IOWA CITY, IOWA – It is always a good Saturday when you end up in the green and that’s exactly what the bad knee did for us last week. If only Illinois would have decided to show up in the first half, we could’ve had our first sweep.

Nonetheless, we are going to carry that momentum into Week Ten as we draw closer to an even record on the total season. We now have a good idea of what teams are capable of and not capable of. We have no choice but to continue to improve, right?

Here are my favorite plays of this coming Saturday, courtesy of BetRivers Sportsbook.

Minnesota @ #24 Illinois (+3): The Fighting Illini were our only letdowns last week, BUT I will give them some grace. Oregon has proven themselves time after time this season and rightfully holds the spot as the number one team in the country.

Illinois is undefeated at home this season and while Minnesota has won three straight, I anticipate they slow down this week. I believe the Illini win this straight up, so getting three points is clearly the play.

Vanderbilt (+7.5) @ Auburn: Bad knee says Auburn sucks. No further analysis needed.

#4 Ohio State @ #3 Penn State (U46): Game of the weekend in Happy Valley. Both of these teams have shown how elite they are on both sides of the ball this season. The Buckeyes rank tenth in the nation in scoring offense and sixth in total yards allowed on defense.

On the other hand, Penn State is 20th in offensive yards and 12th in defensive yards allowed. James Franklin and Ryan Day are both looking for a legacy defining win Saturday and I am expecting a good old fashioned Big Ten war. Leaning towards Ohio State, but I am trusting the defenses to show up big.

UCLA @ Nebraska (-6.5): We are once again putting trust in the Nebraska Cornhuskers. They Huskers last played in Memorial Stadium almost a month ago on October 5th in their 14-7 win over Rutgers. Even though they lost, their defense showed how special they can be as they held Ohio State to just 21 points (seven in the second half) in the horseshoe.

UCLA is coming off of a bye and in their last game they took home their first ever conference win in the Big Ten 35-32 over Rutgers. Unfortunately, Nebraska’s tough defense is a terrible matchup for the Bruins as they 219th in the country in total offensive yards and 263rd on the ground. Huskers should win this by multiple scores.

Wisconsin @ Iowa (O41): I will continue to put this on the ticket until it stops working. Iowa has gone over 41 points in every game since week two and both games that went under were just one score away.

This game favors Iowa by just one field goal, so it should be a back and forth battle of two teams starting quarterbacks who began the season as the backup. Hawkeye fans have been anticipating the first start of Brendan Sullivan’s career, so go points!

Hopefully we can keep momentum as we get into the best time of the year for sports. Good luck everyone and as always, I just hope everyone has fun.

Season Record: 10-13-2 (3-1 last week)