The Illinois Fighting Illini meet the Charlotte 49ers Saturday in week 5 college football action at Memorial Stadium. The Charlotte 49ers look for a statement win to build on their 3-1 record. The Illinois Fighting Illini need a win here to snap a four-game losing streak.
The Charlotte 49ers have lost four of their last five road games. Chris Reynolds is completing 60.4 percent of his passes for 924 yards, nine touchdowns and two interceptions. Grant DuBose and Victor Tucker have combined for 608 receiving yards and four touchdowns while Elijah Spencer has six receptions. The Charlotte 49ers ground game is averaging 202.8 yards per contest, and Calvin Camp leads the way with 261 yards and two touchdowns. Defensively, Charlotte is allowing 24.3 points and 432.8 yards per game. Markees Watts leads the Charlotte 49ers with 32 tackles, Kofi Wardlow has one sack and Jonathan Alexander has one interception.
The Illinois Fighting Illini have lost five of their last six home games. Artur Sitkowski is completing 56.9 percent of his passes for 611 yards, six touchdowns and one interception. Isaiah Williams and Deuce Spann have combined for 368 receiving yards and three touchdowns while Daniel Barker has eight receptions. The Illinois Fighting Illini ground game is averaging 150.8 yards per contest, and Joshua McCray leads the way with 265 yards and one touchdown. Defensively, Illinois is allowing 26.8 points and 449 yards per game. Jake Hansen leads the Illinois Fighting Illini with 30 tackles, Jer’Zhan Newton has 2.5 sacks and Kerby Joseph has two interceptions.
The 49ers are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 road games and 11-5 ATS in their last 16 games in October. The Fighting Illini are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 home games and 3-7 ATS in their last 10 games overall. The over is 4-0 in 49ers last 4 games overall. The under is 3-1-1 in Fighting Illini last 5 games overall.
The Illinois Fighting Illini are the more talented team and should be favored, but they’ve done nothing since their season opener against Nebraska and the offensive effort seems to be getting worse. Illinois is ranked 106th in passing offense and 108th in total defense. Charlotte has issues of its own, mainly on defense, but the total offense is ranked 35th in the country and the 49ers have a win over an underrated Duke squad. Charlotte is also 5-3 against the spread as a double-digit underdog. Give me the points.