The Northwestern Wildcats will have their work cut out for them this weekend as Northwestern heads to Ann Arbor to face off against the Michigan Wolverines.

The Michigan Wolverines improved to 6-3 overall and 4-1 in the Big Ten conference this past weekend as the Wolverines took care of business against the Minnesota Golden Gophers. The Wolverines were without the services of DeNard Robinson this past weekend, and in his place Michigan started Devin Gardner. Gardner isn't as dynamic of a player as Robinson, but still the Wolverine signal caller had a solid day against the Gophers with 234 yards through the air and two scores. The Wolverines missed the ground game production from Robinson, but Toussaint was solid in his absence, rushing for 70 yards and one score to lead the Wolverines on the day. Defensively Michigan held the Gopher offense to just 275 total yards. The Wolverines are giving up just over 3.5 yards per rush this season, and with the Wildcats keeping the ball on the ground nearly 60 percent of the time, this front seven for Michigan will be tested this Saturday.

The Northwestern Wildcats had the week off this past Saturday to savor their win against the Iowa Hawkeyes the previous Saturday, giving Northwestern and impressive 7-2 record on the season. The Wildcats looked to have things rapped up early against Iowa as the Hawkeyes were unable to move the ball at all against the Wildcat defense, but Northwestern did bend a little bit late, letting the Iowa Hawkeyes back into things. It was far too little too late for Iowa though as Northwestern clearly showed they were the better team. The Wildcats set out to physically dominate the Iowa defense as Northwestern kept the ball on the ground against the Hawkeyes, recording 49 rushing attempts against just ten attempts through the air. Kain Colter is one of the more dangerous dual (triple if you count when he lines up as a receiver) threats in the nation as Colter threw for 80 yards and a score, while gaining 166 yards on the ground while scoring three times against the Hawkeye defense. Look for more of the same this weekend against the Wolverines as Colter is sure to be the fixture of the Northwestern offense against Michigan.

The Wildcats are a crazy 8-1 against the spread this season, while the Wolverines are 4-5 against the spread. Northwestern is 2-1 against the spread in their last three road games, while the Michigan Wolverines are 2-2 against the spread in their last four games at home.

DeNard Robinson is listed as probable for the Wolverines this weekend, and even though Gardener was solid for Michigan against the Gophers, that has to be welcome news for Wolverine fans. I'm expecting a lower scoring game here as I think the Wildcats will try to keep things close to the vest on the road. The under may end up being the play and is something to consider once the total is out, but for a side I'm going to have to take the points with the Wildcats. Northwestern just doesn’t hurt themselves, and while Michigan does have offensive firepower, this is just too many points to be giving this Northwestern team.

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