MIAMI at BALL STATE - Click HERE
Although they are on the road,, the Huskies have a good shot at reaching bowl eligibility. They have five wins and face Kent State Saturday. The Flashes are riding an eight-game losing streak and were thrashed 34-3 last week at Ball State. Northern Illinois, meanwhile, is coming off a 24-0 win over Western Michigan. Beating Kent State would leave NIU at .500 both overall and in MAC play.
NIU leads the all-time series with Kent State 22-8. ix of the Golden Flashes’ eight wins have come at home, including the last meeting at Dix Stadium in 2021 -- a 52-47 KSU victory. However, NIU prevailed 41-23 when the two teams met again in the 2021 MAC Championship game.
NORTHERN ILLINOIS (5-6, 4-3 MAC)
-- Including a pair of wins over MAC East foes Akron and Ohio in October, NIU has won 29 of its last 37 regular season games versus MAC East opponents and is 33-9 since 2008
-- After two straight losses, NIU rebounded last week to shut out Western Michigan 24-0. The Huskies limited WMU's offense to a total of 206 yards. They sacked WMU four times and recorded seven TFLs.
-- NIU held the Broncos to 11 first downs and limited one of the top rushing offenses in the MAC to 24 yards on 18 carries. WMU’s 206 total yards were the fewest allowed by the Huskies this year.
-- Safety Jashon Prophete shut down one of the most productive receivers in the league in the game, limiting the MAC’s leading receiver in catches per game - Kenneth Womack - to two catches for 24 yards.
-- The vast majority of offensive yards by NIU against the Broncos came through the air. QB Rockey Lambardy completed 9 of 17 for 92 of NIU's 99 passing yards. However, the Huskies amassed 287 yards on the ground. Antario Brown was the key, logging 21 carries for 159 yards and two scores.
-- Brown ranks 18th nationally and second in the MAC in rushing yards, 21st (2nd MAC) in yards per carry with 6.11 and 20th (2nd MAC) in rushing yards per game with 97.7.
-- Overall, NIU ran on 50 plays, while passing 18 times.
-- Northern Illinois QB Rocky Lombardi connected on 9 of 17 tosses. Four Huskies caught passes. Trayvon Rudolph (5) was the only receiver with more than two catches.
KENT STATE (1-10, 0-7)
-- The Flashes only win of the season came in Week Three against Central Connecticut (38-10).
-- KSU is coming off a 34-3 loss at Ball State. Ball State went up 13-0 before Kent State put up a field goal just before intermission. It was all Cardinals after that as they scored 21 unanswered points.
-- Kent State was limited to a total of 97 yards on offense -- 68 through the air and 29 on the ground.
-- QBs Devin Kargman (5 of 12, 52 yards) and Tommy Ulatowski (3 of 11, 16 yards) combined to go 8 of 22 for 68 yards.
-- Although KSU held the Cardinals to 88 yards passing, Ball State rushed 52 times for a total of 300 yards with four TDs.
-- The Flashes rank last among MAC teams in both scoring offense (13.5 ppg) and scoring defense (34.4 ppg).
-- Kent State is 11th among MAC teams in rushing (105.4 ypg) and 10th in passing (217.4 ypg).
Saturday, Nov. 25 -- 12:00 p.m. ET
Scheumann Stadium -- Muncie, IN
CBSSN
By Mike Smith
It can be difficult to predict how a team will play after it has clinched both bowl eligibility and a spot in the conference champioship game.
The Miami RedHawks are in that position as they close their regular season with a matchup against inter-division rival Ball State. Miami already has nine wins and will meet West champ Toledo Dec. 2 in Detroit for the MAC title.
There was a SOMEWHAT similar situation in 2019, but there were also some key differences.
Miami and Ball State also finished that campaign in Muncie, and the new MAC East champion RedHawks led 28-14 at . . .
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