College Football Week 1 Preview: Nebraska vs. Northwestern Odds & Line

The first college football game of the new season between Power 5 programs is from the Big Ten on Saturday, Aug. 27 as Nebraska faces Northwestern from Dublin, Ireland in the Aer Lingus Classic. Here is the preview for your NCAA Football Odds.

How to Bet Nebraska vs. Northwestern NCAA Football Odds & TV Info

When: Saturday, Aug. 27, 12:30 PM ET
Where: Aviva Stadium, Dublin, Ireland
TV: Fox
Stream: Fox Sports Go
Radio: Tunein.com
Opening NCAAF Lines: Northwestern -11.5 (total 50.5)

Last Meeting

Nebraska was 1-8 in the Big Ten last year but that victory was a 56-7 blowout of Northwestern in Lincoln. Adrian Martinez ran for a career-best three touchdowns and passed for another, and Nebraska broke big play after big play. The Cornhuskers were sharp from the get-go and dominated a matchup that had seen eight of the previous 10 games in the series decided by eight points or less. The 49-point margin was Nebraska’s largest in a win against a Big Ten opponent. The Huskers had seven plays go for at least 20 yards and their 657 yards were their most in two years. For Northwestern, it matched the second largest in a loss in Pat Fitzgerald’s 16 years as coach.

Why Bet on Nebraska?

Who will be Nebraska’s starting quarterback this season? Adrian Martinez had been the long-time starter and holds 16 school records at Nebraska, including career total offense (10,792 yards). He was the first Huskers true freshman quarterback to start a season opener and the first three-time team captain in school history. Martinez started 11 games last season before a shoulder injury sidelined him for the season finale. He had surgery on Nov. 24, and he entered the transfer portal on Dec. 2. He is now at Kansas State.

Texas transfer Casey Thompson is the likely Week 1 starter under center for Coach Scott Frost. Thompson played in 19 games at Texas, including 10 starts. He completed nearly 64 percent of his passes (185-of-290) for 2,422 yards and 30 touchdowns while rushing 73 times for 210 yards and five scores. Thompson had three career games with five or more touchdowns – all in 2021 – the most in Texas history.

As a sophomore in 2021, Thompson started the final 10 games of the season. He was 165-of-261 (63.2 percent) through the air for 2,113 yards and 24 touchdowns. Thompson tied the Texas school record with six touchdown passes and seven total touchdowns against Kansas, when he completed 30-of-43 passes for 358 yards.

Thompsons top target may be Trey Palmer, who joined Nebraska after playing the three seasons at LSU from 2019-21. Palmer played in 28 games in his three seasons at LSU, totaling 41 receptions for 458 yards and three touchdowns. In addition to averaging more than 11.0 yards per reception, Palmer was an electric return man for the Tigers, returning both a punt and kickoff for a touchdown. He had 23 punt returns for 188 yards and one touchdown at LSU with 15 kickoff returns for 394 yards and one touchdown.

The Husker roster features 117 returning players and 33 newcomers. Nebraska returns 11 starters, including six on offense and five on defense. Nebraska’s 33 newcomers include 19 freshmen and 14 transfers. The Huskers picked up six FBS transfers – including four from Power Five programs – four FCS transfers, three junior college recruits and one Division III transfer.

Frost is set for his fifth season at Nebraska in 2022. The consensus 2017 national coach of the year, Frost is 34-36 in six seasons as a head coach. Nineteen of Frost’s 29 losses at Nebraska have been by a touchdown or less, including 11 by five or fewer points. Nebraska was just 3-9 in 2021, but the Huskers cumulatively outscored their opponents by 63 points on the season. Despite the 3-9 record, the average score of a Nebraska game in 2021 was 28-23 in favor of the Huskers.

Why Bet on Northwestern?

The Keough-Naughton trophy will be presented to the winner of the Big Ten West showdown. The name of the trophy represents Don Keough and Martin Naughton — two successful Irish-American businessmen. Northwestern will be designated as the home team in the matchup. Nebraska was originally scheduled to play in Ireland to open the 2021 season against Illinois.

The Wildcats finished a disappointing 3-9 last year and 1-8 in the Big Ten. They rarely have two bad years in a row under Coach Pat Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald is the most successful head coach in Northwestern football history. He is the school’s all-time winningest coach (109-90, 64-68 Big Ten), has guided the Wildcats to 10 bowl games, won the past 4 (most recently the Citrus Bowl at the conclusion of the 202o season), captured division titles in 2018 and 2020 and pulled in Top 50 recruiting classes in each of the past 3 years.

Quarterback Ryan Hilinski returns. He led the team with 978 passing yards across nine appearances last year and started five games as a sophomore. He completed 25-of-39 passes for 256 yards and his first NU touchdown against Nebraska. The only other QB with game experience is junior Carl Richardson, but he only appeared in 3 games last season (19 passing yards). Sophomores Cole Freeman, Brendan Sullivan, and Jasper Stratton have not played.

Running back should be the strength of the offense, bolstered by the return of third-year back Cam Porter, who suffered a season-ending lower-body injury during fall camp last August after a huge closing stretch to his freshman year in 2020. Porter rushed for 301 yards and three touchdowns over the last three games of 2020 — against Illinois, Ohio State in the Big Ten title game and Auburn in the Outback Bowl. Fourth-year running back Evan Hull thrived last year after taking over for Porter, rushing for 1,009 yards and seven touchdowns and catching 33 passes for 264 yards and two scores.

The Cats took a big hit on defense with the transfer of All-American defensive back Brandon Joseph to Notre Dame. Joseph, a consensus All-American for the Wildcats in 2020, entered his name into the transfer portal on Dec. 30. He was third on the team in total tackles in 2021 with 80 and also had three interceptions, four pass breakups and a sack.