Northwestern strong favorite over B.C.

Using a two-quarterback rotation has worked for Northwestern football coach Pat Fitzgerald, who has two comeback wins in his pocket.

The Wildcats captured a dramatic victory at Syracuse before upending Vanderbilt last week as a small home underdog. On the flip side, Boston College lost at home to Miami before beating Maine.

Based on those results and a few other factors, I made Northwestern a 12-point home favorite over the Eagles today. The actual line of minus-3½ looks like a bad one, and I’m all over the Wildcats in a game they should win by double digits.

Noticing the line discrepancy, I went straight to the injury reports for both teams and expected to see Northwestern dealing with potential absences of key players. But Fitzgerald’s team is basically injury free.

Boston College could be without its top two tight ends and wide receiver Bobby Swigert, who had a team-high 44 receptions last season. All three of those players are doubtful.

The Wildcats beat the Eagles 24-17 a year ago and look poised to do it again, with Fitzgerald effectively rotating quarterbacks Kain Colter and Trevor Siemian.

Four more plays for today (Home team in CAPS):

■ LOUISVILLE (-3) over North Carolina – Cardinals sophomore quarterback Teddy Bridgewater might be the best player in the Big East Conference. He can beat defenses with his strong arm and elusiveness.

This is a revenge game for Louisville, which lost 14-7 at North Carolina last year. The Tar Heels’ two stars, quarterback Bryn Renner and running back Giovani Bernard, are nursing injuries, though both will play. I made the Cardinals 6-point favorites.

■ TOLEDO (-3½) over Bowling Green – The Rockets are geared up for their home opener after spending the first two weeks of the season on the West Coast. Toledo lost in overtime at Arizona, which demolished Oklahoma State in Week 2. Next, the Rockets went to Wyoming and collected a 34-31 win. Toledo quarterback Terrance Owens, who has five touchdown passes and no interceptions, is a great talent.

■ KENTUCKY (-6½) over Western Kentucky – Wildcats quarterback Max Smith looks like the Southeastern Conference’s most improved player. The sophomore has completed 65 of 89 passes for 634 yards and six touchdowns without an interception. Kentucky dominated as a 7-point favorite in a 47-14 victory over Kent State last week, and this play has a lot of line value.

■ Western Kentucky-KENTUCKY (Over 49) – I bet the Kentucky-Kent State game over the total of 44, and I’m going to come back with another “over” play based on the play of Smith and the fact the Wildcats don’t have a good defense.

Alabama blanked the Hilltoppers a week ago, but their offense produced 49 points in the season opener. I made this total 55.

Last week: 4-1 against the spread

Season: 7-3

Brian Edwards of VegasInsider.com and BrianEdwardsSports.com is providing college football analysis for the Las Vegas Review-Journal.