College Football

Ball State vs Northern Illinois Prediction 10-26-24 College Football Picks

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1m ago

Oct 21, 2024 / 1214 Views

Evan Walker

NIU Huskies (4-3) vs. Ball State Cardinals (2-5)
October 26, 2024 3:30 pm EDT
The Line: Ball State Cardinals +11.5 / NIU Huskies -11.5; Over/Under: -
(Get latest betting odds)

The Northern Illinois Huskies and the Ball State Cardinals meet Saturday in college Football action from Scheumann Stadium. Here’s a Ball State vs NIU prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Ball State vs NIU pick.

Northern Illinois Huskies Betting Preview

This year the Huskies kicked off with a 54-15 win over Western Illinois and a 16-14 victory versus Notre Dame in their first pair. After losses to Buffalo 23-20 (OT) and NC State 24-17, NIU beat UMass 34-20 and Bowling Green 17-7.

In the Toledo matchup last weekend the Huskies were outscored 6-0 in the second half during a close loss 13-6. QB Josh Holst finished with 210 yards, and Gavin Williams led the rush on 78 yards from 16 carries. Cam Thompson caught five balls for 80 yards.

Ball State Cardinals Betting Preview

Over on the Cardinals’ side, they beat Missouri State 42-34 in their opener then fell to Miami-FL 62-0, Central Michigan 37-34, James Madison 63-7 and Western Michigan 45-42. Game six was a win however, as Ball State took out Kent State 37-35.

Matched up against Vanderbilt on Saturday the Cardinals gave up 10 unanswered points in the fourth quarter during a tough loss 24-14. QB Kadin Semonza logged 190 yards and a TD. Vaughn Pemberton rushed five times for 32 yards, and Tanner Koziol caught nine balls for 68 yards and a score.

Ball State vs NIU Prediction

I’ll lean toward Ball State, but I’m probably staying away. The Cardinals gained a tepid 268 yards (190 passing) in their latest loss to Vanderbilt, adding 16 first downs and a rough 2-of-9 rate on third-down conversions. It was quite the step backward after scoring a combined 79 points over the previous pair.

As for NIU, they went just 4-of-19 on third downs and 2-of-8 on fourth downs in their low-scoring loss to Toledo over the weekend. The Huskies held the ball for 36:14 but could only muster six points. This one could probably go either way but I’m thinking Ball State has a better cover shot.