NIU Huskies (1-0) vs. Tulsa Golden Hurricane (0-1)
September 10, 2022 7:00 pm EDT
The Line: Tulsa Golden Hurricane -6 / NIU Huskies +6; Over/Under: 57
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The Tulsa Golden Hurricane and Northern Illinois Huskies clash Saturday in week 2 college football action from Chapman Stadium. Northern Illinois managed a seven-point win over Eastern Illinois in their first outing of the 2022 season. As for Tulsa, they played Wyoming in their opener. In that one the Hurricane fell in a tough OT defeat. Check back all season long for free college football picks at Sports Chat Place.
Northern Illinois had a pretty successful season in 2021. The Huskies went 9-5 overall and 6-2 in MAC play for a West Division co-championship. NIU won the conference title with a 41-23 win over Kent State, but fell in the Cure Bowl to Coastal Carolina 47-41 to end the year on a down note.
In their first action of the 2022 season, the Huskies managed a tense win over Eastern Illinois 34-27 despite getting outscored 21-13 in the second half. QB Rocky Lombardi put up 192 yards and a score, while Harrison Waylee led the rush on 83 yards and a TD off 14 totes.
Over on the Tulsa side, they did fairly well in 2021 also. The Golden Hurricane managed a 7-6 overall record and a 5-3 run in American Athletic Conference play for a fifth-place finish. Tulsa took an invite to the Myrtle Beach Bowl, where they beat Old Dominion 30-17.
Matched up against Wyoming last weekend, the Hurricane went punch-for-punch with the Cowboys but ultimately fell 40-37 in double overtime. QB Davis Brin managed 460 yards and three touchdowns, while Keylon Stokes topped the receivers on 169 yards and a score off 11 catches.
PICK: I’m going to try Tulsa in this one. I could probably go either way, though. The Hurricane had their passing game working well against Wyoming with 460 yards through the air and 25 first downs. Tulsa unfortunately lost a couple of fumbles and couldn’t close the game out late. Still, it was a promising effort in a lot of respects for their first game of the year.
As for Northern Illinois, they nearly took an ugly loss to Eastern Illinois in their first game, but to their credit the team was able to hang on. NIU had some decent offensive stats, but also gave up 441 total yards to the Panthers—out-gaining their 379 on the other side. Still, I like the Huskies to follow that up with another solid effort here; should be a fun matchup.
