Northwestern vs. Vanderbilt Odds & Pick: September 4th 2010

Northwestern vs. Vanderbilt
Pick: Northwestern -4 -110 odds
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Vanderbilt was going to struggle again this season but the Commodores are now further behind the eight-ball. The sudden retirement of head coach Bobby Johnson on July 14th put this team in a massive hole and coming off a 2-10 season, that is the last thing they heeded. Newly hired head coach Robbie Caldwell is no rookie but he was thrown into a very tough position and one that may not sort itself out until later in the season when his young team finds some chemistry. Northwestern is not without its own issues but the Wildcats are in far better shape. Replacing all of the playmakers on offense may seem like a problem but there has been a lot of depth added to this team by head coach Pat Fitzgerald that the cupboard is not bare. The Wildcats have been to a bowl game in each of the last two seasons only to lose both of them in overtime. The goals are the same again and in this game, they match up very well in strength against weakness on both sides of the ball. Success revolves around the play of the lines, both offensively and defensively, and Vanderbilt is short on both as it has to replace the entire offensive line as well as three of the four on the defensive front. On the other side, the Wildcats bring back their entire offensive line as well as half of the defensive line. The real strength for Northwestern on defense is its linebacking corps and while the weakness is going to be in the secondary with three new starters, that is not going to hurt in this matchup. Caldwell announced that his starting quarterback would be junior Larry Smith who started nine games last year before a hamstring ended his season. Smith completed just 46.7 percent of his passes last season while throwing for only four touchdowns and tossing seven interceptions. The Commodores hope to have running back Warren Norman, the SEC Freshman of the Year, playing despite having arthroscopic surgery on his right knee last week. Even if he goes, he is not 100 percent. For the Wildcats, Dan Persa saw limited action at quarterback last season but was pretty solid in the time he saw. Saturday may be his first start, but Persa is no novice to Northwestern’s spread attack. He played most of the second and third quarters of the Wildcats upset of then-No. 4 Iowa last season and threw the go-ahead touchdown pass. He ran for 67 yards on 17 attempts against Iowa and he will be a duel threat. A balanced offense will be on display. On a roster with 55 freshmen, redshirt freshmen and sophomore players, it is safe to say this is going to be a rebuilding season for Vanderbilt. On the flip side, expectations are high once again for Northwestern. The Commodores fall into a solid negative situation as well. Play against teams in the first week of the season that finished the previous year with four or more consecutive losses and overall had a winning percentage of .250 or worse. This situation is 22-3 ATS (88 percent) over the last five seasons. 3* Northwestern Wildcats. Get more college football betting predictions from Matt at Touthouse