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Akron will be in front of their home fans on Saturday, but a look at the spread shows they might need that home-field advantage. They will take on the Northern Illinois Huskies at 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday. The two teams are out to turn their luck around after having lost tight contests in their previous games.
The point spread favored Akron last Saturday, but luck did not. They fell just short of Buffalo by a score of 13-10. The loss unfortunately continues a disappointing trend for Akron in their matchups with Buffalo: they've now lost six in a row.
Despite the defeat, Akron got a solid performance out of DJ Irons, who threw for 136 yards and a touchdown while completing 73.1% of his passes.
Meanwhile, Northern Illinois traveled a rocky road last season, and unfortunately for them the road hasn't gotten any smoother. They fell just short of Toledo by a score of 35-33.
Northern Illinois' defeat shouldn't obscure the performances of Rocky Lombardi, who threw for 258 yards and two touchdowns, and Antario Brown who rushed for 152 yards on only 16 carries.
Akron's status as the underdog is well-deserved: they've lost four of their last five contests. Admittedly, the team was facing some tough opposition over that stretch, including 2-2 Indiana (Akron's opponents had an average overall winning percentage of 64% over those games). Northern Illinois' defeat on Saturday dropped their record down to 1-4.
In addition to losing their last games, the two teams failed to cover the spread. As mentioned, Northern Illinois is the favorite in this one, as the experts expect to see them win by five points. This will be Akron's first time playing as the underdogs at home this season.
Everything came up roses for Akron against Northern Illinois in their prior recent meeting last November as the team secured a 44-12 victory. Will Akron repeat their success, or does Northern Illinois have a better game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
