Kent State Golden Flashes (3-8 SU, 3-8 ATS) vs. Ohio Bobcats (6-4 SU, 5-5 ATS)
College Football Week 13
Date and Time: Tuesday, November 19th, 2013, 8:00 pm EST
Where: Peden Stadium, Athens, Ohio
TV: ESPN2/DirecTV 209
by Badger, Football Handicapper, Predictem.com
Point Spread: Kent St. +5.5/Ohio -5.5
Over/Under Total: OFF
Two of the biggest disappointments in the Mid-American Conference will
be the focus of the national spotlight Tuesday night on ESPN2, when the
Kent State Golden Flashes play their final game of a long
season in Peden Stadium against the fading Ohio Bobcats.
Kent State has been a disappointment only because of how far theyve fallen so fast. Last years MAC East champs, the Golden Flashes did end a five-game losing streak last week against Miami-Ohio, 24-6, but wins and good vibes have been severely lacking since Darrell Hazell left for Purdue at the end of last years record-breaking campaign.
Ohio was considered by many to be a solid candidate for a title run in the MAC East this season, but the Bobcats have wet the bed the past two weeks when faced with championship-caliber competition losing to Buffalo by 27 points and (30-3) and Bowling Green by 49 points (49-0) in consecutive weeks. With their chances long gone now, it should be interesting to see how senior QB Tyler Tettleton and the rest of the Bobbies react to having nothing to play for except maybe a weak-ass bowl bid.
With a few offshore sportsbooks starting to list this game on their boards, the opening point spread has been listed anywhere from Ohio minus -4.5-points up to Ohio minus -5.5. Either way, the boys on the side of the sportsbook are listing Ohio as favorites and considering Kent State is 1-5 on the road this season, its probably a good idea.
With almost all of the early money coming in on Ohio (70%), it would not surprise me if this game is wagered up to near a touchdown before kickoff on Tuesday.
As of press time an over/under total has still not yet been released.
On paper, Ohio should have a clear advantage in this game. Tettleton is a duel threat at QB thats fourth in the MAC in passing per game (225 ypg), and the Bobcats offense as a whole is 6th in the MAC in both scoring (27.2 ppg) and total yards (383 ypg). Donte Foster is a solid threat on the perimeter, and Tettletons favorite target, but other than Foster the Bobcats just arent very dangerous at the skill positions and its caused them to fail to reach their lofty expectations this season.
The Kent State offense is learning with a freshman quarterback Colin Reardon, so its been a roller-coaster season for the Flashes. The Flashes still possess one of the MACs most dangerous and exciting players in Dri Archer, but the slight speedster has had issues staying on the field and Kent State has developed no consistency at all this season.
Both defenses are middle of the pack at best anyhow, so it should be interesting to see what the total is when it is hits the board. These two schools have played five straight years of unders, and the under is 6-1 going back to 2006, so a number in the mid-40s could be a great betting trend play for some.
Kent State is also 4-0 ATS in the last four head-to-head meetings, 6-0 ATS in their last six visits to Athens, and 8-2 ATS overall going back 10 years, so if there ever was a week for the Golden Flashes to cover the spread maybe this is the week. Its been five weeks since they last covered this year, so theyre due too.
Badger’s Pick to Cover the Point Spread: Just about every trend in the book points to a play on Kent State here, but then you look at the team on the field and you vomit in your mouth. Id advise to wait until just before kickoff to see how high the number for Ohio climbs, if it gets up to a touchdown, it might just be worth a small little wager on the Flashes to cover and stay true to the trends.
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