Northern Illinois has been so good as far as winning...but...they trailed Central pretty big before coming back to win. Beat Toledo, NIU led most of game, but UT came back and NIU had to win on last minute FG. UT had 7 ypp on them. They have confidence and are in drivers seat of winning the division. They are hard to fade, but I really feel like they might lose here as I don't see them as being better than Kent. But maybe Kent not better than them either. Hence the short line which is just HF essentially.
Kent D has been pretty bad, again. They are bad every category except turnovers, but the TOs have slowed in league play, only 7 gained in last four games after being +7 first two games. Kent good at not turning it over though, just one total lost TO in 4 MAC games.
NIU wants to run (fewest pass att per game 21.9, most rush att per game 47.4), and they probably will be able to and Lombardi can hit throws. I wouldn't trust Kent D to get a lot of stops. Kent runs it about as much, but is better passing.
It's a hard game to really have a ton of confidence on either side. Both offenses should do well. I have no idea who wins. Probably Kent, but don't think I bet the full game side.