Northern Illinois Huskies vs. Kent State Golden Flashes
Oddsmakers currently have the Huskies listed as 3½-point favorites versus the Golden Flashes, while the game's total is sitting at 50.
Northern Illinois fell 33-30 to Central Michigan in OT in Week 12. Northern Illinois was a 4-point favorite in that game, while the 63 points sailed OVER the posted total of 50.
Chad Spann scored two rushing touchdowns in the loss.
Kent State held off Temple and prevailed with a 41-38 victory in Week 12, as a slight 1-point underdog at home. The 79 points sailed OVER the posted total of 47.
Julian Edelman ran for a pair of touchdowns, while finishing with 144 yards rushing and 232 yards passing in the win.
Current streak:
Northern Illinois has lost 2 straight games.
Team records:
Northern Illinois: 5-5 SU, 5-4 ATS
Kent State: 3-7 SU, 2-6-1 ATS
Northern Illinois most recently:
When playing in November are 5-5
When playing on turf are 5-5
After being outgained are 3-7
When playing within the conference are 5-5
Kent State most recently:
When playing in November are 2-8
When playing on turf are 3-7
After outgaining opponent are 4-6
When playing within the conference are 2-8
A few trends to consider:
Northern Illinois is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games on the road
Northern Illinois is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games when playing Kent State
Northern Illinois is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games when playing Kent State
The total has gone UNDER in 11 of Northern Illinois's last 16 games on the road
The total has gone OVER in 6 of Kent State's last 7 games
Kent State is 2-4-1 ATS in its last 7 games
Kent State is 2-7 SU in its last 9 games at home
Kent State is 1-4 ATS in its last 5 games when playing Northern Illinois
Next up:
Northern Illinois home to Navy, Tuesday, November 25
Kent State at Buffalo, Friday, November 28
N ILLINOIS (5 - 5) at KENT ST (3 - 7)
Top Trends for this game.
KENT ST is 4-14 ATS (-11.4 Units) in all games over the last 2 seasons.
KENT ST is 1-11 ATS (-11.1 Units) when playing with 6 or less days rest over the last 2 seasons.
KENT ST is 2-9 ATS (-7.9 Units) in games played on turf over the last 2 seasons.
KENT ST is 4-14 ATS (-11.4 Units) in all lined games over the last 2 seasons.
Head-to-Head Series History
N ILLINOIS is 1-0 against the spread versus KENT ST over the last 3 seasons
N ILLINOIS is 1-0 straight up against KENT ST over the last 3 seasons
1 of 1 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons
Northern Illinois at Kent State
Northern Illinois: 23-9 Under in all games
Kent State: 3-10 ATS off an Over
NORTHERN ILLINOIS vs. KENT STATE
Northern Illinois is 1-4 ATS in its last 5 games
Northern Illinois is 7-16 SU in its last 23 games
Kent State is 1-4 ATS in its last 5 games when playing Northern Illinois
Kent State is 1-4 SU in its last 5 games when playing Northern Illinois
What bettors need to know: Northern Illinois at Kent St.
By MATT SEVERANCE
Northern Illinois at Kent State (+3, 50)
All-time series: The teams meet for the 22nd time, yet it’s only the Huskies’ third trip to Kent State in the past 25 years. NIU has won 14 of the 21 previous meetings but is 5-5 all-time in Kent. The Huskies had more than 500 yards of offense in last season’s 27-20 victory. They are 4-1 ATS in this series in the past five.
Breaking it down: NIU’s stop unit faces its third straight elite quarterback in Kent State’s Julian Edelman. Edelman is the reigning MAC Offensive Player of the Week after rushing for 144 yards and three touchdowns and throwing for 232 yards and one touchdown last Wednesday in a 41-38 win over Temple, KSU’s first home win over a I-A opponent since 2006.
It was Edelman’s fifth consecutive 100-yard rushing game (sixth of the season), a career high for rushing TDs in a game and a season high in passing yards. He has surpassed 1,000 yards rushing on the season becoming just the 25th quarterback in Division I-A history to reach 1,000 yards rushing and passing in the same year. In addition, he is the 12th QB in I-A history with 4,000 yards passing and 2,000 yards rushing in a career. He is averaging 6.2 yards per carry this year and even returned three punts against Temple.
Behind Edelman and RB Eugene Jarvis, KSU (which is 0-5 when the opposing team scores first this season) has put up 41, 20 and 54 points in its past three games, winning two of them. The over is 6-1 in its past seven games.
"We're developing a mentality that we're just going to attack people," KSU coach Doug Martin said. "We're not going to worry about the last play or the next play or anything else."
The Flashes have the best run game in the MAC (232.8 yards per game). Jarvis, who missed three games midseason with an ankle injury, has 682 yards rushing with six touchdowns and is averaging 4.9 yards per carry.
But the Huskies have the MAC's No. 1 defense against the run (130.5) and overall (309.7). Led by NFL prospect Larry English, NIU’s defense has a whopping 81 tackles for a loss this season. But that group has been exposed a bit in the past two games after the Huskies allowed 78 points in losses to QB Nate Davis and Ball State and then Dan LeFevour and Central Michigan.
Against the Chips last Wednesday, the Huskies scored 16 fourth-quarter points to send the game into overtime before falling. Redshirt freshman QB Chandler Harnish threw for 288 yards (on a season-high 36 attempts) in the setback, but had two picks, including one in overtime. He also was the Huskies’ leading rusher last week despite only totaling 31 yards.
Harnish, like Edelman, can beat a team with his feet and is second on NIU in rushing, averaging 42.4 yards per game. Me’co Brown leads the team with an average of 49.3 yards a game. NIU is third in the conference in averaging 171.4 yards per game on the ground but last in passing at 165.5 ypg.
“They give you a lot of different looks from their offense, a lot of unbalanced line sets, they’ve got a really good running back, their quarterback is really playing well. So this is a team with a lot of confidence, so this will be a very, very physical football game,” KSU’s Martin said.
Picked to finish last in the MAC West, NIU (5-1 ATS in its past six road games) is one win shy of becoming bowl eligible. The Huskies have lost nine games by margins of seven points or less over the past two seasons, including four of their five losses this year.
The weather: It will be plenty cold, as one would expect in Ohio in mid-November. There’s a good chance of snow showers as well.
Northern Illinois (5-5, 5-4 ATS) at Kent State (3-7, 3-6 ATS)
Fresh off a pair of losses that killed any hope of competing for the Mid-American Conference championship, Northern Illinois will try to at least get back over .500 when it travels to Kent State for a MAC clash.
The Huskies began November on a 5-1 run, but they’ve had the rug pulled out from under them the last two Wednesdays. On Nov. 5, they went to No. 16 Ball State and got crushed 45-14 as an eight-point road underdog, and then last week Northern Illinois rallied from a 30-6 second-half deficit against Central Michigan to force overtime, only to lose 33-30 as a four-point home chalk. The Huskies’ defense got gashed in both defeats, giving up 529 total yards (219 rushing) to Ball State and 430 yards (241 rushing) to Central Michigan.
Kent State played a back-and-forth home game against Temple on Wednesday, eventually prevailing 38-31 as a one-point favorite. The Golden Flashes finished with a 561-354 yard edge in total offense, including a whopping 329-72 advantage on the ground and forced four turnovers, but committed three themselves, and they also got burned on a 92-yard kickoff return for a score.
Northern Illinois is on a 3-0 SU and ATS run in this rivalry, including last year’s 27-20 home victory as a 3½-point underdog, as the piled up a season-high 235 rushing yards. The host has cashed in four of the five meetings between these schools, the only exception being in the Huskies’ last visit to Kent in 2005 when they rolled 34-3 as a 10½-point chalk.
Northern Illinois started the season on a 4-0 ATS run, but is 1-4 ATS since (all against MAC foes), including 0-3 ATS in its last three and 1-3 ATS as a favorite. However, the Huskies are 5-1 ATS on the highway going back to the end of last season (4-1 ATS this year), the lone non-cover coming at Ball State. Additionally, the Huskies are 8-3-1 ATS in their last 12 November contests and 5-2 ATS in their last seven against losing teams.
Kent has followed up a four-game losing skid by going 2-1 SU and ATS in its last three, putting up averages of 41.7 points and 502.3 yards during this stretch. Also, the SU winner is 8-1 ATS in the team’s nine lined games this season. However, the Golden Flashes are mired in pointspread slumps of 7-19 overall, 2-8 at home, 4-13 against MAC rivals, 1-5 in November, 2-7 on artificial turf and 0-6 after both a SU win and an ATS triumph.
For the Huskies, the under is on stretches of 20-7-1 overall, 11-5 on the highway, 14-4-1 in league play, 7-2 in November and 4-0-1 against losing teams. Conversely, Kent is on over streaks of 6-1 overall and 5-1 in MAC play, but the under is 8-3 in the teams last 11 November outings. Finally, the last three battles between these squads have stayed under the posted price.
ATS ADVANTAGE: NORTHERN ILLINOIS and UNDER
Gametimepicks.com
NCAAF RESEARCH REPORT
By Indiancowboy
Northern Illinois vs. Kent State
I would lean on Kent State at home similar to their last cover at home as they won outright over Temple by a field goal, but Northern Illinois comes off back to back losses including an OT loss to Central Michigan where they fought hard. They are 5-5 and borderline for a Bowl game, I don't want to go against that incentive. Kent State has played several overs in a row, but the total has been going down steadily due to inclement weather.