Week 4: Illinois vs Chattanooga 9/22/22 College Football Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Illinois Fighting Illini and Chattanooga Mocs clash Thursday in week 4 college football action from Memorial Stadium.

The Chattanooga Mocs improved to 3-0 on the year with a 41-14 win over North Alabama last time out. Preston Hutchinson’s thrown for 303 yards, 3 touchdowns and an interception on 22 of 31 passing, while Ailym Ford rushed for a team-high 96 yards and the aforementioned Hutchinson had a pair of rushing scores as well. Sam Phillips added a team-high 5 catches for 96 yards, while KeShawn Toney added 42 receiving yards and Ford had a pair of TD grabs. Jamoi Mayes also added a touchdown reception of his own in the victory.

The Illinois Fighting Illini will be out to build on their 24-3 win over Virginia last time out to improve to 2-1 on the year. At the time this article was written, Tommy DeVito’s thrown for 622 yards, 3 touchdowns and an interception on 67% passing while Chase Brown’s rushed for 496 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Isaiah Williams leads Illinois’ receiving group with 19 catches for 157 yards, while Pat Bryant has 147 receiving yards so far this season. On defense, Keith Randolph Jr. has a team-high 17 total tackles while Devon Witherspoon has a team-high 13 solo tackles and Jer’Zhan Newton has a pair of sacks. Kendall Smith also has a pair of interceptions so far this season.

Chattanooga is 4-1 ATS in their last 5 non-conference games and 6-1-1 ATS in their last 8 games in September while the over is 4-1 in their last 5 games following a win. Illinois is 1-5 ATS in their last 6 games following a win and 2-5-1 ATS in their last 8 non-conference games while the under is 5-0 in their last 5 games in September.

I get why Illinois is favored here, but the reality is that I’m not really looking to lay this kind of juice with the Illini on their best day as this isn’t a team built to blow teams out, even an FCS opponent. Chattanooga though is no slouch as it is and I think this is one of those games where Chattanooga can make this a lot closer than you’d think. Give me the points and the Mocs here.