Caleb Wilfinger
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After a long and eventful college football regular season, the most wonderful time of the year is here. Bowl season has arrived and with it comes a myriad of interesting games between teams that we don’t often see paired up against each other in a neutral site setting. This year’s installment of the Las Vegas Bowl features the Utah Utes against the Northwestern Wildcats. Will the Wildcats get the outright upset or can Utah finish off what has been a tumultuous season with a victory? Here is my Utah vs Northwestern Same Game Parlay for Saturday’s matchup, which will be televised starting at 7:30 pm ET on ESPN.
Northwestern ML (+198)
Ja’Quinden Jackson to score a touchdown (-128)
NCAAF Same Game Parlay odds: +431
One of the benefits of Same Game Parlays, of course, is that you don’t have to correlate the plays and your odds will increase as a result. That is the plan here, as Northwestern winning outright doesn’t necessarily correlate with Utah’s Ja’Quinden Jackson finding the end zone. But at the same time, there’s no reason why both can’t happen. Let’s break down each of the legs.
Northwestern Wildcats ML over Utah Utes (+198)
There’s no doubt in my mind that Northwestern should be extremely motivated to finish off its remarkable 2023 season with a flourish going up against a Utah team that is just trying to make it out of this season unscathed at this point. The Utes have dealt with remarkably poor injury luck all season long, including not having quarterback Cam Rising available for the entirety of the campaign. Along with Rising’s health, the Utes also suffered a tremendous number of injuries on both sides of the ball, including at running back, wide receiver, tight end, and in their defensive secondary. There’s no telling what the ceiling could have been for Utah if it was fully healthy this season, but Kyle Wittingham’s team will have to settle for an underwhelming 8-4 campaign.
Northwestern has exceeded all expectations this season, finishing with a 7-5 record after the Wildcats’ projected win total was just 3 heading into the campaign. Not only will they essentially have their full complement of starters on Saturday, but Utah is going to be without a plethora of players due to injury or the transfer portal. It’s clear that one team wants to be there, while the other might just be going through the motions. Motivation aside, the Wildcats should be able to hang in this game on both sides, especially given that Utah’s offense is outside the top 100 in passing success rate, EPA per pass and EPA margin. Look for the Wildcats to keep the ball on the ground and rely on their defense to keep things close throughout.
Be sure to check out our full Northwestern Wildcats vs Utah Utes predictions
Ja’Quinden Jackson to score a touchdown (-128)
While I do like the Wildcats to win this game, I believe we’re getting a bit of value on Ja’Quinden Jackson to record a touchdown in this one. Utah has to get offense from *someone* on Saturday, and the Utes will likely stick to the ground game to generate some yards against a Wildcats defense that is outside the top 100 in EPA per rush and rushing success rate on defense. The Utes are going to lean heavily on Jackson, who has 114 carries over the last 7 games, including 4 touchdowns during that span against the likes of Washington, Arizona State and Cal. Look for the Utah running back to break off an explosive run at some point in the contest, one that might just put his team on the doorstep of a touchdown. I’ll roll with Jackson to find the end zone and add value to our SGP.
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