A non-AQ team in FBS has dreams of making a second-straight BCS Bowl game and gets a chance to take another step towards that Wednesday night on the national stage. The No.15 Northern Illinois Huskies will take on the Ball State Cardinals at 8 pm ET with coverage on ESPN2. A win would bring the Huskies to 10-0 on the season and just two wins away from likely locking up a BCS bowl berth.
- When:
Wed., Nov. 13th, 2013 @ 8:00pm ET
- Where:
Huskie Stadium, DeKalb, IL
- Who’s Favored?
NIU by 6.5 ~ 69.5 o/u @ BetOnline
- More Info:
Northern Illinois has cruised through the majority of their season and anchor the country’s 8th-ranked offensive attack putting up 44.2 points per game. That includes scoring 59 points and 63 points over the course of their last two contests.
The Huskies will come out in this one and try to do what they do best; run the football. Northern Illinois averages 313 yards on the ground per game, ranking 4th in the nation. They throw the ball around the middle of the pack, essentially just enough to keep a defense honest. But the bread and butter of this team comes barreling right at a defense.
Ball State has just one loss on their record this season, but are perfect in the MAC standings. These two reside in the same division so this result will have huge implications on how both team’s seasons turn out.
These two offenses are quite different. Just like Northern Illinois gets things accomplished on the ground, the Cardinals do it through the air. The 16th-ranked passing offense puts up 323 yards per outing, which equates to 40 points per game.
This one has the makings of being a shootout with the potential for the team with the ball last getting the victory. If the Huskies get out with a win, they would just have to get past Toledo (6-3) and Western Michigan (1-9) to head into the MAC championship game undefeated.