Total Play For Tuesday MACtion

Western Michigan vs. Northern Illinois, 7:00 ET

College Football games during the week bridge that gap between the NFL on Monday Night Football and Saturday's jam-packed college slate. Sure, they aren't great teams usually, and they aren't even usually popular programs, but I will say this is some of my favorite football. The MAC has teams that compete, usually score a lot of points, and are entertaining games. Tonight, I've got a play in the game between Western Michigan and Northern Illinois.

Western Michigan is coming into this game on somewhat of a heater. They've won their past two games and have looked pretty convincing in doing so. Overall, they are just 4-6 on the season, but they have had a rather difficult schedule. They faced Iowa in Iowa, then went to Toledo, a powerhouse within the MAC. They lost both of those games by more than two scores. After defeating Ball State at home, they lost their next three, two of them on the road again. They finally got their first win on the road two weeks ago against Eastern Michigan and now look for another against Northern Illinois. They've improved mostly due to quarterback play. They are on their third quarterback of the season, using Hayden Wolff now. He has put up over 250 yards in three of his five games. He has still thrown just eight touchdowns and three interceptions, but the fact that they are consistently moving the ball helps to alleviate some of the pressure put on the defense. I think that they should be able to sling the ball downfield as Northern only has 17 sacks this season, so the pressure isn't on the opposing quarterback.

Northern Illinois takes on Western Michigan tonight. (Photo by Aaron J. Thornton/Getty Images)

Northern Illinois is pretty balanced, so the Western Michigan defense needs to be ready for anything. They have just under 2,000 passing yards as a team this season and over 1,600 rushing yards. They've called 300 passes and 335 rushing attempts. Their running game has been effective enough to keep them alive in games, but like their opponent, they sit with a 4-6 record overall. They are on the opposite side of Western Michigan as they have lost their past two games and are seemingly struggling to get much going right now. They racked up yardage against Central Michigan but their defense couldn't stop anyone. Against Ball State, it was a close game but the offense looked more stagnant. Which offense shows up here tonight? I think Northern is likely to struggle against the pass from Western Michigan and this could become a shootout. The Huskies are probably the better team, and being at home should help them quite a bit.

Tonight is a game that I think Northern wins, but I'm not quite sure they are able to get that spread covered. The line has moved in their favor and now they are expected to win by 5 or more points. The better play in this game is to take Western Michigan and Northern to just consistently score. Neither team is one that I think has a big edge in the game on the side. I do think both have the pieces offensively to win. The defense is going to lack a bit in this one and I'll take the total over 56.5. In full disclosure, I cannot bet on this game at a legal sportsbook. Does that mater to anyone, probably not, but just a silly rule being in Illinois and college sports with an Illinois team.

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