Two of the most explosive offenses in college football will help decide this Poinsettia Bowl as the Boise State Broncos meet the Northern Illinois Huskies. Northern Illinois (8-5) and Boise State (8-4) come into this game having both fallen in one of their last three. The game starts at 4:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Dec 23 and will air on ESPN.
Northern Illinois was blown out by Bowling Green 34-14 in the MAC Championship game. Desroy Maxwell had a solid outing in the loss, hauling in three receptions for 68 yards and one TD. Joel Bouagnon put up 57 rushing yards on 14 carries. Boise State is hoping for another victory like its last game, when it beat San Jose State 40-23. Jeremy McNichols had a great game running the ball for the Broncos, rushing for 192 yards and two TDs on 20 carries. Kelsey Young finished with 63 rushing yards and a TD on three attempts.
The Broncos take on the Huskies as a nine-point favorite this week. The Over/Under (O/U) for the matchup is set at 59 points.
Sitting at 8-5 Straight Up (SU) and 7-4-2 Against The Spread (ATS), the Huskies will look to improve heading into this bowl game. In their five most recent matchups, the Huskies went 3-2 for both SU and ATS. The Huskies are known to have an efficient rushing attack. Their 47.1 rushing attempts per game are the 13th-most in the nation. Turning to the Huskies defense, a few key spots could be deciding factors this week. The Broncos will be matching up against a stout Northern Illinois pass defense, which only allowed 249.2 passing yards over their last five matchups. One of the keys to the game will be whether the Broncos can protect the ball against the ambitious defense of the Huskies, who rank 17th in the nation with 2.1 turnovers per game.
On the other side, the Broncos have 8-4 SU and 6-6 ATS records this season. In the previous five games, Boise State has a record of 3-2 SU and 2-3 ATS. Boise State has found a lot of success through the air. Its 304.3 passing yards per game ranks 20th in Division I. Moving on to the Boise State defense, it has some favorable matchups that it may be able to take advantage of as well. The Broncos are one of the best in the nation at preventing their opponents’ rushing attack, allowing their opposition just 3.4 yards per rush. The Huskies need to hold on to the ball if they want a shot against the turnover-minded Broncos. The Boise State defense generates 2.3 turnovers per game, sixth in the country. The Huskies will have to stay focused in the third quarter against Boise State. The Broncos usually start off the second half with dominance, averaging 9.2 points during the third quarter. Northern Illinois rarely has an advantage when it comes to time of possession. The team has an average time of possession of 27:09 this season, making them 116th in the nation.
Predictions: SU Winner – Boise State, ATS Winner – Boise State, O/U – Under
Notes
Northern Illinois is 6-2 SU in its last 8 games.
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Northern Illinois’s last 5 games.
Boise State is 7-1 SU when leading at the half this season. Northern Illinois is 6-1 SU when taking a lead into halftime.
Boise State is only 1-3) SU in games where it wins the turnover battle, yet 6-1 SU when losing the turnover battle.
The Northern Illinois defense has forced an average of 2.1 turnovers per game this season, while the Boise State defense has generated 2.3 per game. Boise State is 1-3 SU when turning the ball over 2.0 or more times. Northern Illinois is an even 4-4 SU when turning it over at least 2.0 times.
