The Northern Illinois Huskies will travel to take on the Western Michigan Broncos in a Wednesday night MACtion college football matchup. With that said, we are continuing our college football odds series and making our Northern Illinois-Western Michigan prediction and pick.
Northern Illinois has struggled to a 2-7 record, going just 1-4 in MAC play this season. The Huskies are on a two-game losing streak. The team's lone FBS win came against Eastern Michigan on October 15. Head coach Thomas Hammock has a tall task to focus his team for the last three games of a lost season.
Western Michigan has not fared much better, going 3-6 with a 2-3 mark in conference play. The Broncos lost a 13-9 snooze fest against Bowling Green last time out. With three games remaining, head coach, Tim Lester has a chance to bring his team to a second straight bowl game.
Here are the Northern Illinois-Western Michigan college football odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
College Football Odds: Northern Illinois-Western Michigan Odds
Northern Illinois Huskies: +1.5 (-115)
Western Michigan Broncos: -1.5 (-105)
Over: 49.5 (-112)
Under: 49.5 (-108)
Why Northern Illinois Could Cover The Spread
Northern Illinois has not announced a starting quarterback yet but started their third different quarterback last week. Freshman Nevan Cremascoli completed 39.4 percent of his passes for 158 yards with two touchdowns and an interception last week. The team has combined to throw for 1,722 yards with fifteen touchdowns and eight interceptions. Harrison Waylee leads the team with 863 rushing yards and ranks second with five rushing touchdowns. Antario Brown leads the team with six rushing touchdowns and ranks second with 592 rushing yards. The Huskies have totaled 1,776 rushing yards and sixteen touchdowns as a team. Cole Tucker has hauled in a team-leading 39 catches for 572 yards (also leads the team). Tucker ranks second with three receiving touchdowns. Kacper Rutkiewicz leads the team with five receiving touchdowns. Northern Illinois has averaged 29.8 points and 388.7 yards of offense per game this season.
Defense has been an issue for the Huskies, surrendering 33.2 points and 396.0 yards of offense per game. Daveren Rayner leads the team with 71 tackles, including five and a half for loss and three and a half sacks. Michael Kennedy leads the team with four and a half sacks, while the Huskies have totaled twenty as a team. Eric Rogers has picked off two passes to lead the team, while the Huskies have registered seven interceptions.
Why Western Michigan Could Cover The Spread
Treyson Bourguet got the nod at quarterback against Bowling Green. On the season, Bourguet has completed 53.3 percent of his passes for 314 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. Sean Tyler is the team's leading rusher, with 622 yards, ranking second with four touchdowns. La'Darius Jefferson leads the team with five rushing touchdowns and is second with 235 yards. The Broncos have totaled 1,115 rushing yards and ten touchdowns as a team. Corey Crooms leads the team with 43 catches for 620 yards and five touchdowns. Four other Broncos have caught one touchdown each to rank tied for second. The Broncos have averaged 19.4 points and 306.9 yards of offense per game.
Defensively, Western Michigan has struggled, allowing 26.8 points and 365.3 yards of offense per game. Zaire Barnes leads the team with 74 tackles, registering four and a half for a loss and one sack. Corvin Moment leads the team with six and a half sacks, with the team totaling 25. Delano Ware leads the team with two interceptions, accounting for half of the team's total.
Final Northern Illinois-Western Michigan Prediction & Pick
This should be a pretty ugly game, but expect a lot of points.
Final Northern Illinois-Western Michigan Prediction & Pick: Northern Illinois +1.5 (-115), over 49.5 (-112)