The Illinois Fighting Illini will look to go 3-0 when they host the 1-1 Central Michigan Chippewas. Illinois is coming off a blowout win over what some are calling a playoff contender, the Kansas Jayhawks. It was the Illini defense that saw them win the game, shutting down Jayhawk quarterback Jalon Daniels 4 times. The star on the defensive side of the ball was Xavier Scott, who totaled 8 tackles and 2 interceptions, one of which he returned for a touchdown. The Central Michigan junior quarterback will have to protect the ball after throwing 5 interceptions against FIU in a 52-16 loss last week. This season marks Labas’ first time as a starting quarterback at quarterback since he threw 24 passes for the Iowa Hawkeyes in 2022.

Overall, we have a very small sample size of college playing time for quarterback Joe Labas to know if he can bounce back and rise to the occasion against a Power 4 defense. The 34-point loss to the FIU Panthers came after Central Michigan was a 3.5-point favorite visiting. Normally, I would go with the underdog pick to capitalize on a disappointing spot coming off the high of such a big win that Illinois had against Kansas, but I just don’t know if Labas can turn his performance around and find some success. On paper, this is an extremely tough spot against a defense that has committed 4 turnovers against a top 25 team. Illinois quarterback Luke Altmyer can have a tendency to play conservatively, especially against lower-ranked opponents, so I don’t entirely trust the Illini to run away with this game. I believe the under is the best move for this game. It is expected that after last week we will see Central Michigan run a safer offense and try to establish the run to prevent turnovers. I expect the Illinois defense to shut down Central Michigan early and come away with an easy win in the second half.

Under 49.5 available at time of publication. Playable on that number.

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