No Grayson McCall today for the Wolfpack. Northern Illinois is off a bad loss to the Bulls after their big upset of Notre Dame. The Wolfpack are 0-4 ATS this season and has difficult stopping the run. Northern Illinois in the top 50 in the country in pass and rush success rate and since the Wolfpack have some success against the pass, there should be a heavy dose of the run game for Northern Illinois. The Huskies should be able to hang around in this one.

A slew of technical factors point toward NIU in what has been a very profitable role for the Huskies...and not necessarily a very good one for the host Wolfpack. The “Dog in NIU” trend (just take the dog when the Huskies play!) is now 3-0 this season, and 13-3 since a year ago. Back to 2021, NIU is 14-5-1 as dog. Meanwhile, underachieving NC State is now 0-4 vs. spread this season, with no covers its last five since late 2023, and just 2-5 as chalk since 2023. Dave Doeren's bunch just got napalmed in Death valley last week by a barrage of Clemson points (59), and Coastal Carolina transfer QB Grayson MCall remains out, with frosh CJ Bailey likely taking snaps. Play NIU

The Wolf Pack have taken a step back from the team that won nine games last year, posting wins over Miami and Clemson. They have been outscored by a combined margin of 110-45 in blowout losses to Tennessee and Clemson this year. But the offense found something to build on with 426 yards and 35 points against the Tigers. NIU was upset by Buffalo 23-20, 2 weeks removed from its epic upset of Notre Dame. This is a terrible spot for a Huskies team on the road as a hungry Wolf Pack club should be supremely motivated.