N. Illinois vs. Western Illinois Live updates Score, results, highlights, for Saturday's NCAA Football game

The Western Illinois Leathernecks will start their season against the N. Illinois Huskies. Kickoff is scheduled at 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday at Brigham Field at Huskie Stadium.

Saturday's contest might be decided in the trenches. N. Illinois was unstoppable on the ground last season, having averaged 178.8 rushing yards per game. It's a different story for Western Illinois, though, as they averaged only 47.6.

Looking back to last season, N. Illinois wound up perfectly balanced, finishing 6-6. On the other hand, Western Illinois finished with a dismal 0-11 record.

Looking forward, the game looks promising for N. Illinois, as the team is favored by a full 34.5 points. They finished last season with a 5-7 record against the spread.

While the experts think N. Illinois is more likely to win, they finished last season an even 4-4 as the favorite. A bettor who placed a $100 dollar bet on them to lose every one of the 12 games they played last year would have netted $306.72. Sadly, Western Illinois will open their season as the underdog, and the team was 0-10 as such last year.