N. Illinois - LA Tech

the Independence Bowl Sunday, December 28th, 8:15pm Shreveport, Louisiana

Northern Illinois (6-6)______MAC______-31.83 Wk Opp oPts Score 1 Minnesota 19.39 L, 27-31 2 Western Michigan 167.71 L, 26-29 4 Indiana State -495.23 W, 48-3 5 Eastern Michigan -260.22 W, 37-0 6 Tennessee -91.02 L, 9-13 7 Miami (OH) -359.91 W, 17-13 8 Toledo -230.71 W, 38-7 9 Bowling Green -47.49 W, 16-13 11 Ball State 332.62 L, 14-45 12 Central Michigan 94.95 L, 30-33 12 Kent State -204.26 W, 42-14 13 Navy 147.23 L, 0-16

Louisiana Tech (7-5)______WAC_____13.10 Wk Opp oPts Score 1 Mississippi State -143.31 W, 22-14 2 Kansas 81.58 L, 0-29 4 SE Louisiana State -475.09 W, 41-26 6 Boise State 376.20 L, 3-38 7 Hawaii 12.83 L, 14-24 8 Idaho -316.44 W, 46-14 9 Army -273.81 L, 7-14 10 Fresno State 63.06 W, 38-35 11 San Jose State -37.52 W, 21-0 12 Utah State -184.14 W, 45-38 13 New Mexico State -269.98 W, 35-31 14 Nevada 34.12 L, 31-35

Both of these two played extremely weak schedules this season and only managed to go 7-5 & 6-6 - ugh. The one good win between them was LA Tech's over Fresno State, which isn't saying much.

Stats Matchup
Team	Northern Illinois	Louisiana Tech
Points (rank)	-31.83 (#66)	13.10 (#61)
Record	6-6	7-5
Opp. Points (rank)	-926.95 (#104)	-1,132.51 (#112)
Opp. Record	67-68	61-74
Points (% of Opp. Avg)	25.3 (87%)	25.3 (80%)
dPoints (% of Opp. Avg)	18.1 (68%)	24.8 (104%)
Rush Yds (% of Opp. Avg)	172.8 (104%)	195.0 (132%)
dRush Yds (% of Opp. Avg)	141.2 (97%)	99.8 (75%)
Pass Yds (% of Opp. Avg)	162.0 (72%)	157.0 (71%)
dPass Yds (% of Opp. Avg)	162.5 (75%)	279.9 (130%)
Tot Yds (% of Opp. Avg)	334.8 (87%)	352.0 (92%)
dTot Yds (% of Opp. Avg)	303.7 (82%)	379.7 (107%)
ST Yds (% of Opp. Avg)	96.2 (77%)	143.3 (111%)
dST Yds (% of Opp. Avg)	100.0 (82%)	99.8 (82%)
Penalties / Pen. Yds	4.7 / 41.7	6.1 / 53.6
TO's / TO Margin	1.3 / +4	1.6 / +7

Nothern Illinois' D should have a decent time of it against LA-Tech - they're decent, while the Tech O isn't. The Northern Illinois offense isn't much better though.

The Line: Even

The Call: Northern Illinois by 10

The Result: Louisiana Tech 17-10

Ah, what're you gonna do? Good win for Tech, tough loss for N. Illinois. Sorry I can't really get excited about this one.