Indiana vs Cincinnati 9/18/21 College Football Picks, Odds, Predictions

The Indiana Hoosiers meet the Cincinnati Bearcats Saturday in week 3 college football action from the Rock. Cincinnati is coming off a game versus Murray State. In that matchup, the Bearcats posted a blowout win. As for the Hoosiers, they just finished up against Idaho. Indiana notched a blowout win of their own in that one. Check back all season long for free college football picks at Sports Chat Place. 

Cincinnati didn’t have much trouble against Miami-OH in their first outing of the year, jumping out to a 35-0 halftime lead and cruising to a 49-14 win. Bearcats QB Desmond Ridder put up 295 yards with four touchdowns and an interception, while Jerome Ford had 121 yards and a score rushing. 

In game two versus Murray State, Cincinnati started slow with a 7-7 halftime tie, but scored 35 unanswered points from there in a 42-7 win. Bearcats QB Desmond Ridder put up 243 yards with two touchdowns, and Jerome Ford had 113 yards and three scores rushing. 

Over on the Indiana side, they had a lot of trouble with Iowa in their opener game. The Hoosiers fell behind 31-3 at the break and couldn’t get anything going offensively. Indiana quarterback Michael Penix stumbled on 156 yards, three interceptions and a 14-of-31 line. 

In their second outing versus Idaho, the Hoosiers had a 35-7 lead at the break and never looked back in a 56-14 win. QB Michael Penix put up 68 yards and two scores, while Stephen Carr led the rushing attack with 22 carries for 118 yards and a touchdown.

Cincinnati is 6-2 ATS in their last eight non-conference games and 5-2 ATS in their last seven on turf. The under is 4-1 in the Bearcats’ last five road games.

Meanwhile, the Hoosiers are 7-1 ATS in their last eight on turf and 9-2 ATS in their last 11 overall. Indiana is 13-3 ATS versus a team with a winning record as well.

PICK: I’m going to take Cincinnati. The Hoosiers posted 338 total yards in their week two game—159 passing and 179 on the ground. The Indiana defense was certainly a star there though; the Vandals gained just 65 rush yards, 13 first downs and had to punt nine times. 

As for the Bearcats, they held Murray State to 3.7 yards per play and four turnovers. Cincinnati managed 391 yards of total offense and had a nice run/pass mix. I like the Bearcats to post another good performance here on a cover. Should be a fun matchup regardless, though.