Duke at Northwestern odds, picks and predictions

The Duke Blue Devils (1-0) and Northwestern Wildcats (1-0) clash Friday in Evanston, Illinois. Kickoff at Martin Stadium will be at 9 p.m. ET (FS1). Below, we analyze BetMGM Sportsbook’s .. FanDuel Sportsbook’s lines around the Duke vs. Northwestern odds, and make our expert college football picks and predictions.

Duke scored in every quarter and did not allow any points until the final minute of its 26-3 season-opening win Aug. 30 vs. FCS Elon. QB Maalik Murphy helped make up for a lackluster Blue Devil ground game with a 26-of-40, 291-yard passing performance.

Northwestern opened its season — and its new temporary lakeside gridiron facility — with a dominant defensive performance in a 13-6 victory Aug. 31 over Miami (Ohio). The Wildcats held MU to just 267 total yards.

– Rankings: US LBM Coaches Poll, conducted by the American Football Coaches Association and USA TODAY Sports

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Duke at Northwestern odds

Provided by BetMGM Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 8:28 p.m. ET.

• Moneyline: Duke +115 (bet $100 to win $115) | Northwestern -135 (bet $135 to win $100)
• Against the spread (ATS): Duke +2.5 (-105) | Northwestern -2.5 (-115)
• Over/Under (O/U): 37 (O: -110 | U: -110)

Duke at Northwestern picks and predictions

Prediction

Duke 21, Northwestern 17

Duke and Northwestern met last Sept. 16 in Durham, N.C. The Blue Devils won that game 38-14 and since 2017 have won 5 straight against the Wildcats.

Duke is the lean here, but with a low-total scoring environment, look to leverage the Devils plus the points.

PASS.

Look for the visitors to leverage a field-position edge and better big-play abilities. Expect NU to struggle in punching drives into the end zone.

QB Riley Leonard is gone, having transferred to Notre Dame. But last year’s Duke triumph was built more on the ground game. The Devils racked up 268 rushing yards in the 22-point victory.

BET DUKE +2.5 (-105).

The Over cashed in last year’s meeting and is 2-1 across the last 3 DU-NU games. The total has gone Over in 7 of Duke’s last 8 games on the road.

Peg both defenses as being mostly untested in August games against non-power-conference foes. In the exposed-to-Lake Michigan stadium, wind could be more of a factor than it was in the Wildcats-Redhawks game last week. But there is enough upside to the Duke offense and the two sides getting decent ground gains to warrant a play on the OVER 37 (-110).

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