Ford Field will host the ACC Conference’s Duke Blue Devils when they take on the MAC Conference’s Northern Illinois Huskies in the 2017 Quick Lane Bowl. The contest is set to get underway on Tuesday, December 26th at 5:15 p.m. EST. The game’s over/under currently sits at 47.5 and the Blue Devils are also -5 point favorites. The Quick Lane Bowl can be seen on ESPN for your early evening college football enjoyment.
The Duke Blue Devils come into this bowl game with a mediocre 6-6 record. After starting 2017 4-0, Duke completely fell apart and lost their next six matches. Fortunately, they righted the ship in their last two games against Georgia Tech and the Wake Forrest Demon Deacons. As a result, they earned enough wins to get this postseason appearance.
The Northern Illinois Huskies sport an 8-4 record entering into this match-up against the Blue Devils. The Huskies went 2-2 over their last four games, beating Ball State and Western Michigan while falling to Toledo and Central Michigan. The Huskies missed the chance to play in a bowl game last year but before that, they played in eight-straight going 2-6 along the way.
Duke Blue Devils (6-6)
Apparently, Duke got their offense going in the right direction in the last two weeks of the season. The Blue Devils scored 74 points in their last two victories. Before that, they had recorded just 73 in their sixth-straight defeats. Sophomore quarterback Daniel Jones also played a little better. Over the last three games, he completed 63 percent of his passes and was able to post a positive passing ratio of 12 touchdowns to 11 picks on the year. He also threw for 2,439 yards and ran for another 432 with six more scores.
The Blue Devils ran the ball extremely effectively against the Yellow Jackets’, notching 319 total rushing yards on 51 carries. Tailback back Brittain Brown had his best game of the season since the opener against the FCS’s North Carolina Central. The elusive back toted the rock 14 times for 116 yards and a trip to pay-dirt. Teammate Shaun Wilson actually led Duke in rushing with 743 yards and five touchdowns.
Basically, one wide receiver did all the damage for the Blue Devils in 2017. T.J. Rahming led the way with 61 catches for 733 yards. Unfortunately, Duke was anemic in the red zone through the air this season. Of Rahming’s 61 grabs only one of them was good for a score. In fact, running back Shaun Wilson led the corps with three end zone receptions.
The bread and butter of this Blue Devils team was the play of their defense. Duke registered its best season in quite a while, ranking 25th in the country in total points allowed and 25th in scoring defense. The secondary was outstanding, surrendering only 174 yards a game which was good for 12th in the country.
Northern Illinois Huskies (8-4)
The Huskies will provide a balanced attack for the Blue Devils to have to scheme against in the Quick Lane Bowl. Northern Illinois’ offense averages 190 yards or more in both passing and rushing yards per contest. Even so, the team was relying on the run a bit more towards the final half of their 2017 campaign.
Quarterback Marcus Childers is another dual-threat signal-caller for the Northern Illinois Huskies. He was efficient when throwing the football, connecting on 137 passes for almost 1,500 yards with 15 touchdowns and only five interceptions. He also used his feet by rushing for another 459 yards and five trips to the promised land.
Running back Jordan Huff was the best backfield threat that the Huskies put out on the field every week. Combined with Marcus Childers, Northern Illinois finished 38th in the nation with 190 rushing yards per contest. Huff had a team-high 740 yards on 127 carries and four touchdowns. Three other backs carried the ball for another 630 plus yards and six more trips to glory.
Three wideouts all pitched in when Northern Illinois looked to move the ball through the air. All three had over 400 yards receiving and all three reached the end zone at least once. Spencer Tears and Christian Blake each had 39 catches and four touchdowns. The Huskies also have one of the better tight ends in the country. Shane Wimman caught 30 passes for 283 yards and a group-high seven touchdowns.
Like the Blue Devils, the Huskies’ defense was also the backbone of their team this year. The unit finished the season 18th in the country allowing only 328 total yards a game. They also were stout against the run, giving opposing schools only 112 yards on the ground (11th). When all was said and done, the squad relented to 20.8 points a contest (26th). I expect them to do well against a Blue Devils club that has been one-dimensional for most of the year.
Prediction
Line setters had the Northern Illinois Huskies as a 2.5 point underdog when they set the line a few weeks back. Since then, the betting public has pushed it up to five. I suspect it’s because of the way they performed against Georgia Tech and Wake Forrest to close out the year. Either way, I do think that this game will be close but could easily be decided by a touchdown. For that reason, I’m suggesting to stay away from this spread.
Instead, I believe that the play to make in this showdown is with the under 47.5. Bot of these programs has solid defenses that have performed well almost everytime they have taken the field. I don’t see why that won’t be the case in the Quick Lane Bowl either. Not to mention, neither the Huskies or the Blue Devils have an offense that has been great. Place your money on these two units to control the game for most of the 60 minutes and keep the game low scoring. Hopefully this over/under won’t drop another point or two by kickoff. @EriktheHun
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Trends
The Blue Devils are 2-5-1 ATS in their last 8 games overall.
The Under is 9-1 in the Blue Devils last 10 games overall.
The Huskies are 5-15-1 ATS in their last 21 neutral site games.
The Under is 13-6 in the Huskies last 19 neutral site games.
