CFB Week 13 Tuesday

Kyle Kirms
Nov 17
4 min read

UMASS @ OHIO - 7 PM

That loss to Western Michigan hurt. Ohio no longer controls their own destiny.

The good news for Ohio is... now they're back at home in Athens. This team is 22-1 in their last 23 home games and the offense has played much better in this building.

The UMass defense has been getting religiously cooked. Look at the opponents... none of them are comparable to Ohio's offense. This unit is so injured. LB Timmy Hinspeter just went down... that was the icing on the cake. Northern Illinois scored on their first 7 possessions of the game.

I just don't think there's anything on paper that indicates UMass can make stops in this game. Ohio... at home... coming off a loss.

The weakness of this Ohio team is the defense. LB Michael Molnar has been out since Week 9. There's a couple other lingering injuries. I still am not sure if we can rely on UMass to score points.

Btw... Ohio's defense hasn't even looked bad. It looked bad earlier in the season. Since we've gotten to conference play, it's looked fine.

But the UMass offense is just dead. They just lost another offensive lineman. They've got scout team players seeing significant snaps.

They set off fireworks after kicking a FG down 45-0 last week.

Ohio should win by however many points they want.

AKRON @ BOWLING GREEN - 7 PM

Akron was on a roll... but the mighty Kent State put em down. They were down 35-17 and came back to force OT though.

Akron has lost 3 straight matchups vs Bowling Green.

I still trust this Akron offense. The season-long numbers don't look great, but they've looked much better recently. The problem is... Bowling Green's defense has been pretty strong.

Ben Finley is playing good football right now. Remember, he got off to a slow start then he missed a game or two.

Bowling Green's defense has been good.. but we've seen some teams throw the ball on em. I'm a little worried that there's a chance of snow... but I think Finley's gonna be throwing the ball in this game.

On the other side of the ball, I can't believe I'm saying this... but Akron has the significant advantage. Bowling Green's offense has fallen off a cliff.

Bowling Green's offense just isn't there. They're down to their 4th string QB. Eddie George dismissed the OC last week... it didn't look much better. 33.3% success rate against Eastern Michigan's defense.

Akron's defense has been great against the run! Kent State was making some throws on em last week... but Bowling Green really doesn't pose much of a threat through the air. Bowling Green attmpted just 5 passes in the 1st half against EMU.

I don't know how you lay more than a FG with Bowling Green in this one... but I don't like when I don't understand the number. Bowling Green looks terrible. Akron +3.5 but I'm worried I'm missing something.

WESTERN MICHIGAN @ NORTHERN ILLINOIS - 7 PM

Vibes are high after Western Michigan beats Ohio last week.

They are definitely the much stronger team... but idk how you lay more than a FG in a game like this. Both of these teams rely on a slow, physical run game. They're very similar. This is gonna be the slowest football game of all time.

Remember... Western Michigan is a defensive team. The offense hasn't been very good. Their QB is their leading rusher. They don't pose much of a threat through the air. But the strength of this Northern Illinois defense is defending the run. Also WMU RB1 Jalen Buckley is questionable for this game.

I very seriously doubt Western Michigan's offense is gonna come into this building and bully Northern Illinois' defense around. This defense has been excellent at home.

Northern Illinois' entire identity to physicality. Thomas Hammock is not the type of guy that's gonna let an opponent come onto his home field and push his team around on the line of scrimmage.

Now on the other side of the ball, I'm not really sure what we can expect from Northern Illinois' offense. Western Michigan's defense has been dominant this year and NIU has really struggled to score.

We're gonna see a physical run game here from NIU... it's been better in the 2nd half of the season.

And they looked unstoppable last week. Now it was UMass... but QB Josh Holst was injured so they started Jalen Macon... pass game was limited. But he led the team with 98 rush yards and he's set to start this game as well. The NIU rush game is even more dynamic.

I'm not expecting a ton of offense here from NIU... but one of the biggest strengths of this WMU defense has been the pass rush. Nadame Tucker has 10.5 sacks and 16 TFLs. But Northern Illinois isn't gonna be throwing the ball.