MACtion Look For Ohio Vs Kent

Ohio vs. Kent, 7:00 ET

Over the years, one of my favorite conferences to bet on is the MAC. The teams almost always have really good players, some that you think should be at a bigger school. The games are usually entertaining and often times pretty close. Other times, the games are just complete blowouts with teams racking up points and running up and down the field. Tonight we get a MAC game with Ohio taking on Kent.

Ohio comes into the game at 5-3 for the year with a 3-1 conference record. Their only loss in the conference was on the road, them falling 30-20 two weeks ago against Miami-Ohio. They ended up winning two of the games with relative ease, beating Akron 30-10 in the first game of MACtion, and housing Buffalo 47-16 last week. Their quarterback, Parker Navarro, isn't exactly the best arm in the league, but he has been a solid dual-threat player. Through the air, he is completing 66% of passes, with seven touchdowns. The problem is that he has been sacked 13 times and also thrown seven interceptions. On the ground, he has the second most carries and has racked up 515 yards, good for 6.3 yards per carry and four touchdowns. Their receiving corps isn't anything special. They only have four receivers who have hauled in 10 or more passes, but all four of those players are also averaging over 10 yards per reception which is encouraging that they care getting down field enough. Kent's defense really is close to nonexistent, so I wouldn't be surprised to see Ohio find ways to attack them. 

Kent State quarterback Tommy Ulatowski rolls from the pocket looking to pass during Wednesday night’s MAC Conference game against the Bowling Green Falcons in Kent.

Kent is the worst team in the division, and it really isn't close. Kent hasn't won a game, sitting at 0-8 for the year. They have had a tough schedule, facing both Tennessee and Penn State, but even their other games haven't seen a lot of successful moments. They've only played two games this season where they were within one score. They've allowed over 50 points in five of their eight games. It shouldn't be all that shocking that they've been shut out by the two top-ranked teams they've faced, but they've only scored over 30 points twice this season as well. Ohio isn't the best team in the world, but their defense has done a decent enough job against the foes on their schedule. Their offense seems to solely revolve around getting the ball to Chrishon McCray. He has seven of their 17 touchdowns for the season. Overall, the team doesn't have much of a running game which makes them a bit one-dimensional.

For this game, there shouldn't be any reason to trust that Kent could win this game. I'm a little concerned they are going to struggle to score as well. I think that Ohio should be able to cover 19.5 points, but I am not confident in backing a road favorite at that high of a number even against this bad Kent team. Instead, I'm going to back the Ohio team total over 34.5 at -135. I think they should be able to score at least five touchdowns against this defense. It wouldn't surprise me to see them go over 42 points and I'll sprinkle that over 41.5 at +180 as well. 

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