Akron Zips at Northern Illinois Huskies Week 9 Pick

The Akron Zips (0-7) and the Northern Illinois Huskies (2-5) will lock horns on Saturday, October 26th, 2019, in DeKalb, Illinois. Kick-off is scheduled for 3:30 PM ET and scheduled to be televised on ESPN+. The Huskies have won the last five meetings between both parties. Most recently, the Zips hosted the Huskies in Akron in 2018, where they fall 36-26. The Huskies would cover as a six-point favorite improving them to 4-1 ATS in the last five contests between these two sides.

Akron Zips at Northern Illinois Huskies Key Injury Concern

NIU Senior Quarterback Ross Bowers is presently sporting a questionable tag after sustaining a head injury in the Huskies’ last game against Miami, Ohio. On the year, Bowers has been marginal overall in his production, completing just 57.3% of his passes while tossing five touchdowns and interceptions.

Akron Zips at Northern Illinois Huskies at Overview

Akron Zips

The Zips step into this contest perfect on the year, when it comes to losses. Whether it be against the spread or straight up, Akron has failed to generate any form of a victory. Most recently, the Zips were shutout when they hosted Buffalo last Saturday. Closing as a 17.5-point underdog, Akron failed to come in under the number giving up 21 points to the visiting Bulls.

Northern Illinois Huskies

The Huskies come into this contest off a 27-24 loss in Oxford, Ohio, last Saturday against the Redhawks of Miami, Ohio. Closing as a 1.5-point favorite, Northern Illinois failed to hold its end of the deal as the low-priced chalk.

Reasons To Back Akron Zips

Because the Zips have yet to cover this season, they will undoubtedly be avoided at all costs by many takers. The only way that the market can somehow garner action on Akron is to inflate the number next to the name in the hope that it will entice some buy-back. When the narrative that NIU has also been profitable in this series as of late is thrown into the fold, the likelihood of Akron taking advantage of an inflated number increases exponentially. This is where one must step in.

Reasons To Avoid Northern Illinois Huskies

As a result of the aforementioned, the Huskies are laying what would have to be construed as an insane number. After all, NIU has won just two games this season, and in those two victories, the Huskies’ most significant margin of victory was 14 points in its season opener against Illinois State. While it is entirely understandable from face value to want to stay clear of the seemingly dead-in-the-water Zips, the Huskies offense is probably not even potent enough to cover this line. NIU sits 112th in the FBS in scoring offense averaging just 21.4 points per game. The Huskies would have to literally pitch a shutout to have a good shot at covering. That in itself seems unlikely as the Huskies give up an average of 29 points per game (80th in the FBS).