Illinois vs Charlotte prediction, game preview, how to watch: Saturday, October 2
Illinois vs Charlotte How To Watch
Date: Saturday, October 2
Game Time: 12:00 ET
Venue: Memorial Stadium, Champaign, IL
How To Watch: BTN
Record: Illinois (1-4), Charlotte (3-1)
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Illinois vs Charlotte Game Preview
Why Charlotte Will Win
So what’s Charlotte doing so right in this solid 3-1 start?
First, that loss to Georgia State a few weeks ago looks a lot more acceptable – Auburn almost lost to the Panthers, too – and 3-1 is 3-1 even if the Middle Tennessee and Duke games were shaky.
The 49ers are getting terrific play out of veteran QB Chris Reynolds, who threw for over 300 yards twice – he was fantastic against Duke – and failed to throw a pick in two games. He’s the type of veteran leader who can carry the team into a Big Ten stadium and make this a fight.
The team controlling the clock well by making teams play at its own pace, the offensive line has been excellent, and there aren’t a ton of turnovers to deal with. However …
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Why Illinois Will Win
The Charlotte run defense is having some issues.
Duke went off, Georgia State ran for almost 300 yards, and Middle Tennessee was too busy throwing, but ran for over five yards per carry.
Illinois is having a hard time catching much of a break with three close losses and a bombing from Virginia, but it should be able to line up and pound away with a decent group of young backs to work in a rotation.
This hasn’t been pretty since the win over Nebraska, but the Illini can control the clock, too, and they’re good at forcing takeaways. If they can get any sort of effective downfield passing game, they should be okay.
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What’s Going To Happen
UTSA was able to waltz into Champaign and leave with a smoothie and a win, and now it’s up to another Conference USA team to try pulling off something special.
Charlotte was able to get by Duke because of meltdowns from the other side – Illinois has to gack this away to lose.
The Illini have been close, and now they’ll finally get that second win under Bret Bielema. It’s not going to be pretty, and it’ll take a full four quarters to do it, but the Big Ten running game will take over late.
Illinois vs Charlotte Prediction, Line
Illinois 30, Charlotte 26
Line: Illinois -11, o/u: 55
ATS Confidence out of 5: 1.5
Must See Rating: 2.5
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