Northern Illinois vs Ohio Line
Written by Steve Janus - Google +
This Friday the Northern Illinois Huskies will take on the Ohio Bobcats in the MAC Championship Game. The matchup is scheduled for 7:00 ET and will be played at Ford Field (Home of the Detroit Lions). Both teams finished up the regular season with a 9-3 record. The Huskies tied with Toledo on top the West with a 7-1 conference record, but earned the spot in the title game thanks to a 63-60 win at Toledo back on Nov. 1. The Bobcats won the East outright with a 6-2 conference mark, but were just one of two teams in the East to finish with a winning record in the MAC. This will be the first meeting between the two teams since 2009, when the Bobcats knocked off Northern Illinois 38-31 at home.
Taking a look at the week 14 spreads, oddsmakers currently have Northern Illinois favored by 4-points over Ohio with the total set at 68 points.
Northern Illinois:
Few would have expected the Huskies to make their way to the MAC Championship Game after their 2-3 start that included a 41-48 loss at Central Michigan in their conference opener. However, this team would go on to win their final seven games. To say things have been easy for this team would be completely wrong. Four of their conference wins came by six points or less, including their 18-12 win over Eastern Michigan this past Saturday.
Northern Illinois has got it done thanks to an offense that ranks 9th in the country averaging just over 488 yards per game and 11th in scoring at 39.6 points per game. Despite a strong defensive effort against Eastern Michigan in their last game, the Huskies defense has been suspect all season long. They are allowing 32 points and 421.7 yards per game.
The difference maker for Northern Illinois is starting quarterback Chandler Harnish, who has the ability to beat opposing defenses with his arm and his legs. Harnish completed 63% of his attempts for 2,692 yards with 23 touchdown to just four interceptions, while also leading the team with 1,351 rushing yards and finishing second with 11 rushing touchdowns.
The Huskies also have a very talented running back in Jasmin Hopkins, who is second to Harnish with 872 rushing yards and the team leader with 15 rushing touchdowns. Hopkins was held to just 31 yards on eight attempts against Eastern Michigan, but had a 122 yards and two touchdowns in their previous win over Ball State.
With this game being played indoors at Ford Field, I expect the Northern Illinois offense to put up some big numbers against the Bobcats. Ohio is 27th in the country against the run allowing just 124 ypg, but are 60th against the pass giving up 226.7 ypg. Even with Ohio’s strong rush numbers, I expect Harnish to have success running the ball.
Ohio:
The Bobcats also looked like they were in trouble early in the season. They opened up conference play with a 17-10 win over Kent State, but followed that up with back-to-back losses against Buffalo and Ball State. They would bounce back with five straight wins to finish the regular season. While the East was clearly the lessor of the two divisions, Ohio is more than capable of knocking off Northern Illinois.
Ohio doesn’t quite have the same offensive fire-power as Northern Illinois, but they are more than capable of scoring a big number if they need to. The have a very balanced offensive attack that averages 31.9 ppg behind 207.9 rushing yards and 252 passing yards.
The Bobcats have a pretty good dual-threat quarterback of their own in Tyler Tettleton. The sophomore quarterback has completed 64% of his passes for 2,868 yards with 26 touchdowns to just seven interceptions. He isn’t quite the same runner as Harnish, with just 576 yards, but did lead Ohio with 8 rushing touchdowns. His two favorite targets are senior wide outs LaVon Brazill and Riley Dunlop. The duo have combined to haul in 92 passes for 1,438 yards and 16 touchdowns.
The ground game is led by senior Donte Harden and his 866 yards on 153 attempts, but Ryan Boykin and Beau Blankership have also helped out by each rushing for over 400 yards and combining for five scores.
While their defense has played well this season, it is going to come down to whether or not their offense can match what Northern Illinois does offensively. That shouldn’t be a problem with their balanced attack, as the Huskies are 79th against the run (182.1 ypg) and 75th against the pass (239.6 ypg).
Betting Trends:
Northern Illinois is 11-5-1 ATS in their last 17 conference games, but just 5-13 ATS vs. a team with a winning record.
Ohio is 8-3 ATS in their last 11 games as an underdog, but are only 1-4 ATS in their last 5 neutral site games.
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