Coastal Carolina Chanticleers vs Northern Illinois Huskies Prediction, Picks and Game Preview - 12/17/2021

Game Time: 6:00 pm ET, Friday, December 17, 2021

Venue:  Exploria Stadium, Orlando, FL

Where to Watch:  ESPN2

DraftKings:  Point Spread:  CCU -10.5, NIU +10.5; Over/Under:  63.5 points

Bet365:  Point Spread:  CCU -10, NIU +10; Over/Under:  63.5 points

BetMGM:  Point Spread:  CCU -10, NIU +10; Over/Under:  62.5 points

 

Coastal Carolina Chanticleers:  10-2 (3rd place, Sun Belt Group A)

Northern Illinois Huskies:  9-4 (1st place, MAC West)

 

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Coastal Carolina Chanticleers:  won on the road on Nov. 26 against the South Alabama Jaguars 27-21 in overtime.

Northern Illinois Huskies:  won at home on Dec. 4 against the Kent State Golden Flashes 41-23.

 

 

 

CCU is coming into this game after finishing their regular season with a 10-2 record overall and they will be playing their first neutral site game this season in this game. They have won 4 of their last 5 games and are coming into this one on a 2 game winning streak after another win in their last game. Their last loss was against the Georgia State Panthers while their 4 wins in that span came against the Troy Trojans, the Georgia Southern Eagles, the Texas State Bobcats, and the South Alabama Jaguars in their last game. Grayson McCall completed 16/25 passes for 176 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception. Shermari Jones had a very nice day on the ground as he led the team in rushing with 211 yards and 1 touchdown on 23 carries while McCall and Bryce Carpenter both ran in 1 TD each in that one. Jaivon Heiligh led the receivers with 87 yards and 1 touchdown on 6 receptions. Teddy Gallagher led the defense in that game with 6 solo tackles and 4 assisted ones. Josaiah Stewart led the defense in sacks in that game with 3 while Alex Spillum came up with 2 interceptions and Silas Kelly also had 1 for them in that one. They have scored 485 points in their 12 games this season averaging 40.4 PPG and they have allowed their opponents to score 240 points against them allowing 20 PPG. Their offense is averaging 492.3 YPG while their defense is allowing 326.5 YPG. 

 

 

NIU is coming into this game after finishing their season with a 9-4 record overall and they are 1-0 in their neutral site games this season where they will be in this game. They have won 3 of their last 4 games and are coming into this one off of a win in their last game. Their last loss was against the Western Michigan Broncos while their 3 wins in that span came against the Ball State Cardinals, the Buffalo Bulls, and the Kent State Golden Flashes in their last game. That game against Kent State was their MAC Championship game, NIU went in as the underdog and came out as the conference champion after a 41-23 win. Rocky Lombardi completed 7/15 passes for 102 yards and 1 interception in that one. Jevyon Ducker had a nice day as he led the team in rushing with 146 yards on 29 carries while Antario Brown had 75 yards on 14 carries. Clint Ratkovich also ran in 1 TD on the ground as well as Lombardi who ran in 3. Trayvon Rudolph led the receivers with 50 yards on 3 receptions. CJ Brown led the defense in that game with 6 solo tackles and 4 assisted ones. Nick Rattin led the defense in sacks with 1 while Brown and Dillon Thomas both came up with 1 interception each for them in that one. They have scored 410 points in their 13 games this season averaging 31.5 PPG and they have allowed their opponents to score 425 points against them allowing 32.7 PPG. Their offense is averaging 422.2 YPG while their defense is allowing 448.2 YPG.

 

NIU is coming into this Cure Bowl as a 10.5 point underdog with the current betting odds according to Draftkings Sportsbook. NIU had a great season this year finishing with the best record in their conference and they won the title game coming out as the conference champions. All season long they have played in close games but they found ways to win those games and things just went their way this season. CCU has not been playing well in their final games of the season and they just have not been the same team ever since getting their first loss of the season against Appalachian State weeks ago. They were ranked for the first half of the season and got so much respect from everyone but that quickly fell off after their loss. They did not win their conference championship and they did not even finish with the best record in the Sun Belt. This is not the game that they wanted to play in and their motivation has to be in question coming into this game. NIU did everything they were supposed to do this season and is now looking to cap everything off with a bowl win here. The best bet to place in this game is on NIU to cover the spread here as there is a good chance that they come away from this game as the winner. 

 

Coastal Carolina Northern Illinois Prediction:  Our NCAAF Pick for Friday, December 17, 2021 (6:00 pm ET start time) is NIU 33 CCU 27.

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Coastal Carolina Chanticleers: 1-6 ATS as a favorite of 3.5 to 10 points. 1-5 ATS after playing 2 straight conference games. 1-5 ATS after failing to cover the spread in 3 out of their last 4 games. 1-7 ATS after having won 3 out of their last 4 games. 1-5 ATS after having won 5 or 6 out of their last 7 games. 1-5 ATS in the second half of the season.

Northern Illinois Huskies: 6-3 O/U in minor bowl games (played in December). 7-4 O/U as an underdog of 3.5 to 10 points. 13-7 O/U after playing a conference game. 12-5 O/U after playing 2 straight conference games. 10-4 O/U after playing 3 straight conference games. 11-7 O/U in December games. 5-1 O/U after covering the spread in 4 or 5 out of their last 6 games. 8-1 O/U off a win against a conference rival. 6-0 O/U off an upset win as an underdog. 10-2 O/U after 1 or more consecutive straight up wins.

 

 

Coastal Carolina Chanticleers:  X. Gravette (TE) Ques Dec 17 - Undisclosed injury. R. White (RB) Out indefinitely - Ankle injury.

Northern Illinois Huskies:  T. Richie (WR) Ques Dec 17 - Foot injury. H. Waylee (RB) Out indefinitely - Arm injury. D. Lafayette (S) Out indefinitely - Leg injury.

 

 

“I’d love to play here again, but of course everybody wants to go somewhere else so we can just get a different experience, another city and just live a little more life together one of these last moments.” - C.J. Brewer on playing at CCU.

 

 

"This is historic. I don't think any team has gone winless the year before and won a championship. When everybody said we would finish last, all I told our team was we are the best team in the MAC until proven otherwise. Obviously, they didn't prove us otherwise.” - Thomas Hammock on his team’s win against Kent State in the title game.

 

 

WR Brown, Kameron 

WR Latushko, Greg 

WR Heiligh, Jaivon 

TE Isaiah Likely 

QB McCall, Grayson 

RB Bennett, Braydon 

RB Jones, Shermari 

 

WR Tucker, Cole 

WR Rudolph, Trayvon 

WR Toure, Mohamed

TE Joiner, Miles 

QB Lombardi, Rocky 

RB Ducker, Jay 

FB Ratkovich, Clint 

 

 

Passing: G. McCall (2558)

Rushing: S. Jones (992)

Receiving: J. Heiligh (1034)

Touchdowns: S. Jones (13)

 

Passing: R. Lombardi (2416)

Rushing: J. Ducker (1038)

Receiving: T. Rudolph (877)

Touchdowns: C. Ratkovich (14)

 

Coaches:

Coastal Carolina Chanticleers: Jamey Chadwell (4th season)

Northern Illinois Huskies: Thomas Hammock (3rd season)