Akron Zips (1-9) vs. NIU Huskies (3-8)
November 26, 2022 1:30 pm EDT
The Line: NIU Huskies -9.5 / Akron Zips +9.5; Over/Under: +54
(Get latest betting odds)
The Akron Zips and the NIU Huskies meet in college football MAC-tion from Huskie Stadium on Saturday.
The Akron Zips will try to snap a nine-game losing skid after a 34-28 loss to Eastern Michigan last time out. DJ Irons has thrown for 2,605 yards, 10 touchdowns and 7 interceptions on 66.8% passing while also logging 314 rushing yards and 4 TDs. Cam Wiley has a team-high 358 rushing yards with 5 TDs while Clyde Price III has 185 rushing yards with 5 scores. Shocky Jacques-Louis has a team-high 65 catches for 800 yards with a pair of TDs while Alex Adams has 49 grabs for 687 yards and 6 grabs and Daniel George has 53 catches for 597 yards this season. On defense, Bubba Arslanian has a team-high 109 total tackles while Akron’s defense as a whole has 14 sacks and 6 interceptions.
The NIU Huskies will hope to bounce back from their 29-23 loss to Miami-Ohio last time out. Harrison Waylee has a team-high 872 rushing yards with 5 touchdowns and Antario Brown has 669 rushing yards and a team-high 7 touchdowns this season. Cole Tucker leads the Huskies with 41 catches for 599 yards and 4 scores while Kacper Rutkiewicz has 405 receiving yards and a team-high 6 touchdowns. On defense, CJ Brown has a team-high 75 total tackles and Daveren Rayner has 3.5 sacks while Michael Kennedy has a team-high 5.5 sacks and Devonte O’Malley has 5 sacks as well this season.
Akron is 13-27-1 ATS in their last 41 games following a loss and 5-12-1 ATS in their last 18 games in November while the over is 9-4 in their last 13 road games. NIU is 0-5 ATS in their last 5 home games and 1-5 ATS in their last 6 home games against a team with a losing road record.
I get the case for NIU being favored at home, but the issue I have is that NIU has nothing but pride to play for at this point and while Akron’s been disastrous for much of the year, the reality is that they’ve been alright at covering the number in some of their recent games. I think Northern Illinois probably wins this game, but to ask them to do it by double digits with nothing of substance to play for is a bit much for me. Give me Akron and the points.
