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The Northern Illinois Huskies are still in the hunt for the MAC West title. Although they lost to Toledo two weeks ago, the Rockets loss to Ohio last week opens the door for the Huskies. It won’t be an easy path as they have to beat both Central Michigan and this week’s opponent, the Western Michigan Broncos. Western Michigan was going to have a letdown after last year’s undefeated campaign coupled with PJ Fleck heading to the Big Ten, but is bowl eligible and played both USC and Michigan State tough in road games.
Watch this regular season Week 12 matchup live on Wednesday, November 15, 2017, at 7 p.m. ET at Huskie Stadium in DeKalb, Illinois. This game will be broadcast on ESPN2.
College Football Opening Odds at BookMaker.eu
Western Michigan +10
Northern Illinois -10
Odds Analysis
This will be the first time that Western Michigan has been an underdog in MAC play this season. The Broncos went 1-1 ATS as an underdog outside of the conference, hanging well within the number against USC, but failing to cover against Michigan State. In conference, the Broncos are 3-3 ATS, but did lose outright twice as a big favorite. The over is 7-3 in Broncos games this season.
Northern Illinois was fantastic in non-conference play. Although the Huskies went 2-2, they barely lost to Boston College and San Diego State, and squeaked by Nebraska in Lincoln. Northern Illinois covered each of those games with relative ease and was considered the team to beat in the MAC after that. However, they have been unable to cover lofty spreads in conference thus far. The Huskies are just 2-4 ATS in conference play.
Player to Watch
The Huskies defense knows that it will have to stop Jarvion Franklin in order for the Huskies to get the cover in this one. Franklin was non-existent through the first few games of the season, but has come alive since that time. Starting with Western Michigan’s thrilling seven-overtime thriller over Buffalo, Franklin turned it on.
Franklin posted 176 yards and three touchdowns against the Bulls and has cracked the 100-yard mark in each of his last five games at this point. He is averaging 165.8 yards on the ground during that stretch and has found the end zone seven times.
When he is on the field, Northern Illinois can be pretty confident it will be to run or block. Franklin only has five catches all season long and has yet to post a multi-catch game.
Matchup to Watch
Getting good play out of the quarterback position has been easier said than done for the Huskies this year. Northern Illinois started the season with Ryan Graham under center but replaced him after he completed under 40 percent of his passes in a season opening loss to Boston College.
The next man up was Daniel Santacaterina who played the next three games for the Huskies. Santacaterina performed decently in his three starts, but threw too many interceptions and was not a mobile threat at all.
That gave way to Marcus Childers. Childers has been the quarterback since Northern Illinois started MAC play and he has played well during this recent stretch. He has just three interceptions in six starts and his mobility makes him a threat in multiple phases of the game. Western Michigan must be aware of his scrambling ability.
Free ATS Pick
Northern Illinois has waxed the bad teams on its schedule, but has not played well against teams of its caliber. The Huskies needed overtime to put away Eastern Michigan, lost to Toledo, and only beat Buffalo by a point. This is a team that should not be laying double digits to a solid Western Michigan squad. I think the Broncos will get the cover and possibly the win.
College Football Odds: Northern Illinois 28, Western Michigan 24s
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