CFB Week 11 Wednesday
- Kyle Kirms
- Nov 4, 2025
- 3 min read
KENT STATE @ BALL STATE - 7 PM
Kent State coming off a win... they were down 21-3 in this game. That gives them 3 wins... which is already more than they've had in the last two seasons combined (1-23 in last two years). They've officially removed the interim tag for Mark Carney. So it looks like he will be the coach heading into next season.
Gonna be tough to make it two in a row though... because this Ball State team has been tough at home... they're a perfect 3-0, including an outright win against the reigning conference champion Ohio Bobcats as 14 point underdogs.
Ball State also hasn't had problems with Kent State over the years.
Well we should see a very slow-paced football game.
On paper, Ball State's defense should be able to generate stops in this one. Kent State's got one of the worst offenses in the country in terms of efficiency.
Kent State's offense might be a bit undervalued. They played some tough competition early in the season. Texas Tech, Florida State, Oklahoma. Now that we've gotten into conference play, we are seeing them look slightly better offensively. It's nothing special but it's an improvement.
Not sure how much success they'll have in this one. Ball State's defense isn't great... but it's not terrible either... and they've played some solid defense in their home games this year. Little worried about trick plays. Also would like to see LB Joey Stemler back on the field. He didn't play in the NIU game and is questionable. (5th leading tackler)
On the other side of the ball, it's tough to figure out who's got the edge here... these are two really bad units.
Kent State's defense has done a solid job against the run their last 3 games... but all UMass does is throw the ball... Toledo didn't need to run the ball cuz they threw for 400 yards in the game. Then a home game against a really bad Bowling Green offense.
This is gonna be a slow... ugly game. The under is probably the better play... but I split my money in half and went Ball State and under.
NORTHERN ILLINOIS @ TOLEDO - 7 PM
Northern Illinois just snapped a 6 game losing streak last week.
Where did this Northern Illinois run game come from? That's back to back game where we've seen NIU efficiently running the ball. This is a team that lost their starting RG Thomas Paasch a few weeks ago too.
I'm not sure if that's sustainable in this one though... Toledo's defense has been elite so far this year.
The thing with Toledo's defense is... they've played such a cake schedule. Since Week 3, what's the best offense this team has seen? Washington State?
We just saw Toledo lose 28-7 in Pullman. They actually won the turnover battle in this game also. So how did they lose so badly?
There were a few drives where they just couldn't get off the field. I gotta say tho... this was a weird game. I rewatched some of it... idk if I'd say Washington State was moving the ball consistently. Eckhaus was doing a lot of it with his legs. But Holst can move a little so maybe there is a path to NIU moving the ball a little in this game.
On the other side of the ball, this is where the concern comes in for Toledo. This is supposed to be the best offense in the MAC (them or Ohio)... going to Pullman isn't the easiest trip to make... but this is terrible. TOL RB Chip Trayanum missed the last 2 and is questionable. NIU CB Done Harrison missed the Ball State game and is questionable.
Nothern Illinois' defense has been surprisingly strong so far this year. Shoutout to HC Thomas Hammock. They had a great defense last year and lost mostly everyone. They didn't really bring much in through the portal and there were a lot of question marks heading into the season. This team's playing decent defense right now.
Now we did see Northern Illinois get lit up when they went on the road to Athens. Toledo's offense is right up there with Ohio when it comes to strongest offense in the conference. And that's what makes this game so tough to get a feel for.
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