Reading the tea leaves at Northern Illinois can lead to one conclusion — the Huskies are in trouble. Two games, two lopsided losses already in 2020, continuing a troubling downturn for the program that can be traced to last year’s hire of coach Thomas Hammock.
Oddsmakers are noticing the same thing, a main reason Ball State is rated a solid 14.5-point choice over NIU at BetMGM and various other outlets for Wednesday’s MACtion in Muncie, Ind.
Two-game stats confirm a troubling downturn for the Huskies, who often have been their own worst enemy with seven costly giveaways across the first two games.
The once-vaunted NIU infantry also has disappeared; the Huskies rank a poor 109th in rushing offense while gaining less than 2.9 yards per carry, continuing a disturbing trend that began last season when NIU dipped to its worst rushing numbers (141 yards per game) since 2007. Hammock’s runners are doing even worse this season at just 115 ypg. Meanwhile, former Cal transfer QB Ross Bowers hasn’t picked up the slack, throwing just one touchdown pass across the first two heavy defeats.
Ball State would appear a daunting matchup, as the Cardinals boast of a balanced offense scoring nearly 35 ppg, able to run with punishing 229-pound Caleb Huntley (already 334 rush yards and five touchdowns in two games), and pass with big-play QB Drew Plitt. The senior is coming off of a superb 2019 when he threw 24 TDs and just seven interceptions, and is completing better than 65 percent of his throws the first two weeks for an offense ranked among the nation’s leaders at 507 ypg (15th).
Moreover, slowing the bowling ball-like Huntley figures to be an especially difficult chore for an NIU defense that has allowed a hefty 5 yards per pop since last season.
The Cards have split 38-31 decisions vs. Miami (Ohio) and Eastern Michigan, but both of those MAC entries appear a notch above the Huskies. And after losing 10 in a row against much-better NIU teams, Ball State is enjoying the satisfying series turnaround that began with last year’s 27-20 victory in DeKalb.
The play: Ball State, -14
