Bowling Green Falcons vs. Northern Illinois Huskies
The Bowling Green Falcons and the Northern Illinois Huskies will take the big stage of Ford Field on Friday night to do battle with the MAC Football Championship on the line as they kick off conference championship week for the college football world.
Bowling Green comes into the conference title game with a 9-3 record led by the nation’s leading passer in Matt Johnson. Johnson, Roger Lewis, Gehrig Dieter, and Travis Greene will lead one of the most prolific offenses in the country to Detroit on Friday night looking to continue piling points on the scoreboard. Northern Illinois will be led by inexperienced freshman quarterback Ryan Graham to try and grab the conference championship and will certainly need junior running back Joel Bouagnon to make things happen.
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Details for Friday’s game are below:
Date: Friday, Dec. 4
Start Time: 8 p.m. ET
Location: Detroit, MI
Stadium: Ford Field
TV Info: ESPN2
Live Stream: WatchESPN
Radio: Here
Ticket information: For ticket information click here.
Keys to Victory
Bowling Green has lived and died with Matt Johnson and their passing attack all season as he’s racked up 4,465 yards passing to go with 41 touchdowns to just six interceptions. However, he’s going to need to avoid that come Friday night against a Huskies defense and secondary that has 19 interceptions on the season, tied for fifth-most in the country. Johnson is going to have to avoid turning the ball over and giving an inexperienced quarterback in Ryan Graham more opportunities to put points on the board.
While showing some effectiveness against Johnson on defense will be huge for Northern Illinois in this matchup, Graham will determine what they’re able to do. In his three starts since the injury to starting quarterback Drew Hare, the freshman Graham has been inconsistent with both his arms and his production in the run game. In this conference title game, he‘s going to have to find ways to be productive with both his arms and his legs while also limiting turnovers to avoid giving Johnson and the Falcons any more chances with the football.
Betting Odds
Point Spread: Bowling Green Falcons -12
Moneyline: Bowling Green Falcons -440, Northern Illinois Huskies +390
O/U: 70
Prediction
The Huskies defense at least has the potential to be pesky for Johnson and the Falcons’ lethal passing attack, but I still don’t think their offense is nearly at a level that can keep the pace against Bowling Green. The Falcons should definitely be able to secure the conference title.
Final Score: Bowling Green Falcons: 48, Northern Illinois Huskies: 24