Central Michigan Vs. Northern Illinois Preview and Prediction (11/2/22)
Line: Northern Illinois -4.5, Central Michigan +4.5
Total: 62.5
Central Michigan Vs. Northern Illinois Betting Odds Breakdown
Central Michigan will be meeting up with Northern Illinois this Wednesday. Central Michigan is coming off of a loss to Bowling Green, while Northern Illinois is coming off of a loss to Ohio.
Northern Illinois is coming in as the favorite at -4.5, and the over/under for the game is sitting at 62.5 points.
Central Michigan Preview
Central Michigan is sitting at 2-6 on the season, and they’ll be trying to get back on the right track before the season comes to an end.
Although Central Michigan took a loss to Bowling Green, quarterback Jase Bauer was making things happen. Even though he threw an interception, he did end up finishing the game going 18/25 on passing attempts while having 125 passing yards. He also tacked on a touchdown to those totals. Not only did he do well passing the ball, he also led the team in rushing yards. He ended up with 109 rushing yards on 16 attempts. If he can play like that, he can give Central Michigan a chance to win. But, their defense has to step up first.
A common theme for Central Michigan this season is that they let up a lot of points. In five of their eight games, they have let up more than 30 points. When trying to win a football game, letting up that many points does not give you a good chance to win. It was the same story with Bowling Green as well. They let up 34 points, and that was difficult for their offense to keep up with. If their defense can keep those numbers down at least a little bit, this could be a close game.
Northern Illinois Preview
Northern Illinois is coming off of a loss against Ohio, and they’ll be trying to get back on track before the season comes to an end.
This game could rely on the availability of Rocky Lombardi. Lombardi missed their last game for undisclosed reasons, but he is expected to be under center this Wednesday. He’s been plagued with injuries this whole season, so we can’t completely know for sure if he is 100 percent going into this game. In Lombardi’s absence, Justin Lynch stepped in for him against Ohio. And he did not end up doing very well. He ended up with 110 passing yards while completing 9/18 passing attempts. So with Lombardi gone and lackluster play from Justin Lynch, running back Antario Brown stepped up with 160 rushing yards on 16 carries. If he can play like that again with Rocky Lombardi supposedly making a comeback, Northern Illinois should be in a good spot to win this game.
Northern Illinois has a defense that is pretty inconsistent. Either they let up a small amount of points, or they let up around 40 points. But, it has been more common for them to let up around 40 points. But, they usually score a lot of points to try to combat that. All their defense has to do is not let up a crazy amount of points. They need to keep it controllable so the offense can do their thing and get points up on the board.
Winner Prediction: Northern Illinois -4.5
Central Michigan’s offense isn’t too threatening, so Northern Illinois should be able to keep the number of points they let up low. Along with that, the home crowd will be behind Northern Illinois and will be ready to see a win in this division matchup. They should be able to get the job done at home.
