SEC Football Preview: Northern Illinois at Kentucky

Kentucky-Northern Illinois football game preview

Kentucky hosts Northern Illinois on Saturday in Lexington. 14Powers.com previews this SEC football game and predicts the final score.

By 14Powers.com SEC Football

Team Schedules/Results

Kentucky

Date Opp. Time/Result Location
09/03 Miami (OH) W 37-13 Home
09/10 Florida W 26-16 Away
09/17 Youngstown State W 31-0 Home
09/24 N Illinois 7:00 pm Home
10/01 Mississippi 12:00 pm Away
10/08 S Carolina 8:00 pm Home
10/15 Miss State 8:00 pm Home
10/29 Tennessee 8:00 pm Away
11/05 Missouri 1:00 pm Away
11/12 Vanderbilt 12:00 pm Home
11/19 Georgia 12:00 pm Home
11/26 Louisville 12:00 pm Home

Northern Illinois

Date Opp. Time/Result Location
09/01 E Illinois W 34-27 Home
09/10 Tulsa L 35-38 Away
09/17 Vanderbilt L 28-38 Home
09/24 Kentucky 7:00 pm Away
10/01 Ball State 12:00 pm Away
10/08 Toledo 3:30 pm Home
10/15 E Michigan 8:00 pm Away
10/22 Ohio 8:00 pm Away
11/02 Central Mich 7:00 pm Home
11/09 W Michigan 7:00 pm Away
11/16 Miami (OH) 12:00 pm Home
11/26 Akron 12:00 pm Home

College Football Ratings

Rating Kentucky Northern Illinois
ESPN FPI 26 113
Sagarin 18 107
Massey Composite 11 105
PiRate Ratings 23 82

Key Stats

Stat Kentucky N. Illinois
Scoring Offense 31.5 32.3
Scoring Defense 14.5 34.3
Total Offense 312.5 372.7
Rushing Offense 60.0 154.7
Passing Offense 252.5 218.0
Team Passing Eff. 152.9 158.27
Total Defense 284.5 432.7
Rushing Defense 123.5 148.3
Pass Yards Allowed 161.0 284.3
Team Pass Eff. Def. 88.13 172.6
Turnover Margin 0.5 1.0
3rd Down Conv. Pct 0.286 0.486
4th Down Conv. Pct 0.000 0.250
3rd Down Conv. % Def. 0.233 0.538
4th Down Conv. % Def. 0.571 0.667
Red Zone Offense 0.800 1.000
Red Zone Defense 1.000 1.000
Net Punting 34.710 38.1
Punt Returns 8.25 3.5
Kickoff Returns 60.5 15.9
First Downs Offense 37.0 55
First Downs Defense 29 69
Penalties/Game 3 7.0
Penalty Yards/Game 20 65.7

Players to Watch

Kentucky

QB Rocky Lombardi, RB Antario Brown, WR Cole Tucker, WR Kacper Rutkiewicz, K John Richardson, LB Izayah Green-May, DL Michael Kennedy.

Northern Illinois

QB Will Levis, WR Tayvion Robinson, OL Eli Cox, DB Jalen Geiger, RB Chris Rodriguez, LB DeAndre Square, OL Kenneth Horsey, DL Octavious Oxendine, P Colin Goodfellow

Injuries

Kentucky

[RB] Jutahn McClain (Undisclosed) – Questionable
[DE] Sam Anaele (Undisclosed) – Questionable
[WR] Rahsaan Lewis (Undisclosed) – Questionable
[RB] Chris Rodriguez Jr. (Suspension) – Out
[RB] Ramon Jefferson (Knee) – Out

Northern Illinois

[QB] Rocky Lombardi (Knee) – Questionable

Source: statfox.com

Kentucky vs. Northern Illinois Football Series History

First meeting

Comments

NIU is without their starting quarterback Rocky Lombardi, a fifth-year starter. I don’t see any way the Huskies win this game without Lombardi. Even if Lombardi was playing I’d still predict UK to win this game. Kentucky’s just gotten too good and I think the Huskies are down some this season after winning the MAC title last season.

14Powers Preseason Prediction

N Illinois 13, Kentucky 39

14Powers.com Gameweek Prediction

Kentucky 34, Northern Illinois 13

Saturday‘s game kicks off at 6:00 PM CT (7:00 PM ET ). You can watch this SEC football game on the ESPN2 Network.

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