Colorado vs Northwestern Prediction, Pick, College Football Odds for Saturday, Sept. 19

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The Colorado Buffaloes take on the Northwestern Wildcats in Evanston, Illinois, on Saturday, Sept. 19. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET on FOX.

Northwestern is favored by -3.5 points on the spread with a moneyline of -182. Colorado, meanwhile, enters as a +3.5 underdog and is +150 on the moneyline to pull off the upset. The over/under sits at 48.5 total points.

Here’s my Colorado vs. Northwestern prediction and college football pick for Saturday, September 19.

My Northwestern vs. Colorado best bet is on both teams to go over the total. Find the best line available on our live NCAAF odds page.

Colorado vs Northwestern Odds

• Colorado vs Northwestern point spread: Northwestern -3.5 (-110), Colorado +3.5 (-110)
• Colorado vs Northwestern over/under: 48.5 (-105o / -115u)
• Colorado vs Northwestern moneyline: Colorado +150, Northwestern -182

After a season from hell last year, Deion Sanders is back and has made the necessary changes to believe in the Buffs offense again.

He hired Sacramento State head coach Brennan Marion and appointed him as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Marion brings with him an impressive and expansive track record, with stops at UNLV, Pitt and Texas.

He also orchestrated the largest point-spread upset in college football history, back when he was the offensive coordinator at Howard in 2017, and they defeated UNLV outright.

Marion runs what he calls the Go-Go offense, a system that pairs two backs on the same side of the ball and plays with relentless tempo. Establishing the run has been intentional, as the Buffs have run the ball on 54% of their plays thus far.

Colorado’s top two backs, Micah Welch and Damian Henderson, are running for 6.3 and 5.3 yards per carry, respectively.

Alongside JaQuail Smith, who has totaled 61 yards on 16 carries of his own, the Buffs have three backs who will see interchangeable action and keep the entire group fresh.

Quarterback Julian Lewis is back as well, and he has remained upright more through two games than last year.

Lewis has thrown for five touchdowns to zero picks, while connecting on some huge plays through the air — completions of 48, 63 and 66 yards thus far.

Colorado should feel confident against a Northwestern defense that ranks just 100th overall in Success Rate allowed on the season.

Like Colorado, Northwestern also introduced a new offensive coordinator this offseason, and he’s one of the biggest names in all of football. Chip Kelly took his talents to Evanston, bringing with him his uptempo offense that fans are well familiar with by now.

Kelly’s hand-picked quarterback is former Michigan State starter Aidan Chiles. Chiles has a rocket arm and seeks big plays, as evidenced by his four completions of more than 20 yards in Northwestern’s win over South Dakota State in Week 1.

Returning wide receiver Griffin Wilde emerged as his favorite target early, and even hauled in a 71-yard connection on the first offensive snap of the season. That bodes well for that duo’s connection for the rest of the year.

But it wasn’t just the passing game that found the big plays in Northwestern’s opener. Running back Joseph Himon II broke an 80-yard touchdown run late. Overall, Northwestern ran for 7.2 yards per carry in the win.

The Wildcats will look to exploit Colorado on huge plays again here, and they should have success if the first few weeks are any sign of things to come.

Colorado’s defense ranks 118th in Explosiveness allowed, whereas Northwestern’s offense ranks 13th nationally in the same category offensively.

Add to the story here that both teams want to play extremely fast, and this should be one of the most entertaining games of the entire Week 3 slate.

With two established creative offensive minds dueling it out in prime-time, expect plenty of points against two defenses without the personnel or the answers to put up much resistance.

Pick: Over 48.5 (Play to 49)

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