NCAA FOOTBALL BETTING PREDICTION - WESTERN MICHIGAN @ NORTHERN ILLINOIS

NCAA Football

2011-10-15 - Western Michigan at Northern Illinois

A Sports Betting Pick by Addicted

WESTERN MICHIGAN @ NORTHERN ILLINOIS
American Football : North America : NCAAF
Saturday, October 15th, 2011, 3:30PM US
(8:30PM GMT)

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PREVIEW

Western Michigan come to Northern Illinois for a conference match, something they have done well at this season. In the MAC, the Western Michigan have not been beaten, and they come here looking for revenge for last years 28-21 loss.

The Broncos have lost to 2 good teams so far, going down 34-10 to Michigan and losing 23-20 to Illinois. Since that last loss, Western Michigan have beaten Connecticut and Bowling Green, that last win coming by a 45-21 margin to leave the Broncos 2-0 in the MAC.

Northern Illinois are 3-3 so far, and also grabbed a league win this weekend, trumping Kent State 40-10. Interestingly, all of Northern Illinois' wins have come at home, where they will play this match. QB Chandler Harnish will have to be in form here, as the offence relies very much on how he performs. He has so far thrown for 1,344 yards and 12 TDs, but has also rushed for 442 yards, making him the 2nd best rusher in the team, but only by 7 yards. He has pounded in 7 scores on the ground too.

Speaking of rushing, Northern Illinois is averaging 124 yards per game and managed 209 yards against Kent State (not that that is saying much, they're terrible) and Harnish grabbed 209 yards rushing with 2 TDs. Also, he went 12 for 15 to gain 113 passing yards and a TD. It all sounds good, but while this team can score, they have serious issues defending.

So far, Northern Illinois are giving up 216 yards per game just on the ground! Through the air they have allowed 12 TDs and have actually given up 40 points or more in each of the 3 games before they held pathetic Kent State to 10. Western Michigan is a lot, lot better than Kent State, and they bring with them an excellent QB too.

Western Michigan have Alex Carder under center, and he has 15 TDs and just 5 interceptions coming into this game, throwing for 1,680 yards and completing a healthy 70% of his passes. His go to guy is Jordan White, who has 67 receptions for 825 yards and 7 TDs. But this team can rush the ball too, averaging 133 yards per game on the ground. Tevin Drake has 311 yards, averaging over 6 yards per carry, and he was in excellent form this past weekend, running for 112 yards and a TD to help his team thump Bowling Green.

I mentioned that Harnish can run the ball too when he's not passing. Well, so can Carder. The Western Michigan QB ran for 95 yards last weekend against Bowling Green, with a score. That was in addition to the 3 TDs he hit through the air, grabbing 212 yards of offence when throwing it. White had over 150 yards receiving and caught 2 of those TD passes.

BETTING VERDICT

If this game wasn't being played at home, Northern Illinois would be dogged by a lot more. They are not the better team, and I have to give the edge to Western Michigan here.

The Pick :