THE LOWE DOWN

Thursday Night Lowe Down: Wildcats earn road W

Matt Lowe

August 30, 2018 at 4:25 pm.

Clayton Thorson fires a pass in the Music City Bowl against Kentucky. Photo Credit: USA TODAY Sports

Clayton Thorson fires a pass in the Music City Bowl against Kentucky. Photo Credit: USA TODAY Sports

Northwestern (0-0) at Purdue (0-0) 7:00 p.m. CT

Not many pundits are talking about this intriguing Big Ten battle, but whichever team comes out with a W will have a leg up in the West division race.

Northwestern is coming off a 10-win season, returns 14 starters (seven offense, six defense, kicker) and is armed with a pro prospect at quarterback (Clayton Thorson) — and a salty front seven on defense. But Justin Jackson, the school’s all-time leading rusher, is gone, and the team’s top two safeties are new starters, so it will be interesting to see how those two positions perform on a big stage.

Purdue’s only defeat in its final five games last season came at the hands of Northwestern, so expect the Boilermakers to be chomping at the bit for a little revenge.

Head coach Jeff Brohm is one of the rising stars in the coaching ranks and his offense, which will be spearheaded by either David Blough or Elijah Sindelar at quarterback, could be ready to take flight if hotshot recruit Rondale Moore can add some spice to the receiving corps. If he can, Purdue, could develop into a quality team offensively. But there’s too many question marks on defense for me to roll with the home team here.

With that said, look for the Wildcats to steal a road victory. Let’s say … by a 3-ball.

The Lowe Down: Northwestern 23, Purdue 20

In other Thursday games:

No. 21 UCF 38 at UConn 13

Wake Forest 33 at Tulane 16

 

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