You certainly can’t accuse the Northern Illinois Huskies of not wanting to play anyone in non-conference play. The Huskies have already traveled to take on Wyoming and South Florida and will now test their fortunes against the team that was the best in the Mountain West last season. The San Diego State Aztecs haven’t squared off against the Huskies since way back in 1971 but will face them in College Football Week 3 action.
This contest in Week 3 of the college football season will go down Saturday, September 17, 2016, at 3:30 p.m. ET at Brigham Field at Huskie Stadium. The game will be broadcast on CBSS.
College Football Odds at BookMaker.eu
Northern Illinois +10.5
San Diego State -10.5
Odds Analysis
The Aztecs opened up as a 10-point road favorite after knocking off Cal last week. However, it’s been seven years since the Huskies lost a home non-conference game and in that timeframe they have knocked off four power conference teams.
Player to Watch
Donnel Pumphrey has been the most underrated running back in college football over the last two seasons. He ran for over 3500 yards from 2014 to 2015 and has already started this season with a bang. Pumphrey went off for 281 yards and three touchdowns against Cal last week and in the process broke Marshall Faulk’s record for career rushing yards.
Pumphrey may be one of the last true workhorse backs. Rocky Long loves to lean on him and he has more than proven he can carry the load. After being shut down against Cal last year, he exploded and averaged almost 10 yards per carry this time around. All told, he is averaging more than 6 yards per carry over his career and has some road pavers in front of him.
Northern Illinois is allowing over 5 yards per carry early in the season and were absolutely gutted by USF last week. Pumphrey is licking his chops thinking about this match-up.
Coaching Angle
Rod Carey is entering his fourth year at Northern Illinois and questions are starting to arise over whether he’s going to continue to be the head man in DeKalb or not. Carey started off strong with the Huskies, taking the team to two straight double-digit win seasons. However, as former coach Dave Doeren’s players graduated, the program’s fortunes have waned.
The Huskies bottomed out last season, going just 8-6 and were hammered by Boise State in their bowl. After that debacle, Northern Illinois has started the season with a loss against a Wyoming squad that won just two games in 2015 and were blown out by South Florida last week.
Across the sideline Carey has to face one of the best mid-major coaches in the game in Rocky Long. Long has made a living out of turning around losing programs and once again has the Aztecs poised to win a conference title this season.
Free ATS Pick
What a brutal start to the schedule for Northern Illinois. At the very least, the Huskies will be battle tested before MAC play starts, but are very likely to start the season 0-3. The offense hasn’t been able to click and will find it hard to get it going against the Aztecs.
The Huskies have struggled to stop the run and it’s hard to believe that they will figure it out suddenly against the Aztecs. San Diego State outweighs Northern Illinois by an average of almost 40 pounds along the line and their big boys will be able to maul the undersized defensive front of Northern Illinois throughout the game.
Pumphrey could easily rush for 200 yards again in this game and the Aztecs should roll. Although betting on double-digit home underdogs is usually a profitable angle, this is a time to lay off.
College Football Odds: Aztecs 38, Huskies 17
BookMaker offers play-by-play betting odds for live sporting events every day! The user-friendly wagering interface on your smartphone provides an easy way to place bets on the go. Mobile betting lines are updated by the minute, so click here to start gambling on thrilling live action at BookMaker Sportsbook!
