Two Mid-American Conference foes go at it on Saturday as the Ball State Cardinals host the Northern Illinois Huskies. Both teams are 1-3 on the season, while Ball State is 0-1 in the conference. This is the first conference game for Northern Illinois. The Huskies have won 8 of the last 10 matchups between the two, including last season, as they won 30-29 as a three point favorite. Northern Illinois is a 3.5 point favorite in this game.
The Northern Illinois Huskies struggled in their opener, beating Eastern Illinois 34-27 as a massive 34 point favorite. They had a big lead and almost let it slip away. The Huskies followed that with three straight losses, but to all power conference teams. They lost 38-35 to Tulsa of the American Athletic Conference, Vanderbilt of the SEC 38-28 and No. 7 Kentucky of the SEC 31-26 as a 26 point underdog. They are now ranked No. 94 in the country. But as they head into the conference schedule, there is definitely something to build on here with this strong showing at Kentucky.
Northern Illinois with the trick play ??
The defending MAC champs are all tied up with No. 8 Kentucky at halftime.pic.twitter.com/KWRxEvkX1a
— 247Sports (@247Sports) September 25, 2022
The Huskies really went toe-to-toe with the Wildcats. They were tied at 14 at halftime and would not go away in the second half. Kentucky outgained the Huskies 406 to 327, and they had 18 first downs to 14 for NIU. On the plus side, they had 5 sacks and won the turnover battle, forcing a fumble. Quarterback Ethan Hampton was 13 of 25 for 196 yards and 1 touchdown with 0 picks. Wide receiver Shemar Thornton also threw a touchdown pass on a trick play. Tristen Tewes caught 6 passes for 37 yards and 2 touchdowns. Harrison Waylee ran for 63 yards while Antario Brown had 37 yards as the Huskies had more rushing yards than Kentucky. The Huskies average 30 points per game, which ranks 75th, and they give up 33.5 points per game, which is 106th.