College football expert betting picks for Week 8
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Purdue at Nebraska (-2.5; 39)
Nebraska has won four of its last five games and playing in a bowl game for the first time since 2016 (Music City Bowl) in Matt Rhule's first year appears to be a realistic achievement. Meanwhile, Purdue is 2-5 in Ryan Walters' first year and still has a date at Michigan next week, so the Boilermakers would have to draw into an inside straight and win four of its last five to get bowl-eligible.
So why are the Cornhuskers only laying under a field goal?
Purdue is off a bye week, and Nebraska has a fairly tenuous injury situation at multiple positions. Three OL starters (LT Turner Corcoran, LG Ethan Piper, and RG Nouredin Nouili) all went down with either season-ending injuries or multiple-week injuries last week in a 17-9 victory vs. Northwestern. Furthermore, leading WR Billy Kemp, who is also the team's punt returner, is out multiple weeks with an MCL sprain. Starting WRs Marcus Washington and Isaiah Garcia-Castaneda, along with RBs Gabe Ervin Jr and Rahmir Johnson, are already out for the season.
All but two Nebraska offensive starters on Saturday will be freshmen or sophomores.
The way to beat Purdue is by throwing on them, but Nebraska's No. 125 passing offense should not have much success doing so, considering “The Kearney Kid” Heinrich Haarberg is only averaging 102.3 passing yards per game on just 51.3% completions.
Expect Purdue to stack the box and dare Haarberg and this young offense to beat them over the top.
The Boilermakers may not have much success running the ball on Nebraska's No. 4 rush defense but should be able to throw the ball.