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Dustin Crum threw for 322 yards and a pair of touchdowns while the Golden Flashes run game tacked another 360 yards and five touchdowns. But Kent State gashed the Northern Illinois defense for 682 yards a few weeks ago. Part of the reason was probably the offense’s inability to sustain a drive. It has given up an average of 452.4 yards a game this season, but last week it gave up 636. However, even if he does, the more significant issue for the Huskies will be the same as it has been all season-the defense. It stands to reason that Lombardi sat out last week to make sure he could play this week. Their two second-half touchdowns were in garbage time. With their defense and no passing game, the Huskies did not have a shot at closing the gap. But after falling behind 28-7 in the first half, the writing was on the wall. Northern Illinois still gained 268 yards on the ground and averaged 9.9 yards a carry. But without the threat of the passing game, the Broncos defense could focus on stopping the run. Northern Illinois is a run-first team, anyway. Without him, the Huskies were not able to get any kind of passing attack going. The Huskies learned just how essential Rocky Lombardi is to the offense’s success in last week’s loss to Western Michigan. Northern Illinois Huskies (8-4 SU, 7-4-1 ATS)

While Kent State limited the Huskies to 131 yards on the ground a few weeks ago, Northern Illinois will undoubtedly want to challenge the Golden Flashes run defense this week.

That way, they can protect their defense, which allowed Rocky Lombardi to connect with Trayvon Rudolph for 309 yards when these teams met a few weeks ago.īut the Northern Illinois offense has been powered by the run game all season. Kent State will probably lean heavily on its run game this week, too. The only other game both had 100+ yards in came against Northern Illinois. The run game is coming off one of its best performances of the season, going for 303 yards and four touchdowns against the RedHawks Xavier Williams and Marquez Cooper both had 100+ yard rushing days.

Since that win, the Golden Flashes went 2-1 with a loss to Central Michigan, followed by a shutout win over Akron and last weekend’s nail-biter against Miami (OH). That streak also included an exciting 52-47 victory over Northern Illinois. The Golden Flashes won four of their last five, including last week’s thrilling 48-47 OT win over Miami (OH). It was an uphill climb for Kent State to get to the MAC title game this year. Kent State Golden Flashes (7-5 SU, 6-6 ATS)