MACtion: Play the Over in Ball State vs. Ohio

Ohio vs. Ball State, 7:00 ET

MAC is returning as the only football action in town tonight. Tonight we get a game between Ohio and Ball State. Ohio comes into the game sitting in first place in the MAC East and Ball State comes in at second place in the MAC West. Despite the standings, this game should be a clear and easy victory for one team.

Ohio is off to a nice start with a 7-3 record on the season and has won the past five games all against MAC opponents. Aside from the game against Northern Illinois, Ohio was able to beat everyone by more than one score as well. I expected them to struggle against Buffalo, but they were able to win that game by three touchdowns. On the surface, Ohio's defense looks a lot worse than it actually is. The statistics would indicate that they allow more yards than they accumulate on offense, and they also give up almost as many points as they score. In reality, they had three consecutive games that made their numbers a bit skewed. Against Penn State, Iowa State, and Fordham, they allowed a combined 141 points and went just 1-2. Lately, they've held opponents to roughly three scores or fewer.

Ball State comes into the game having lost two of its past three games, including a heartbreaker against Toledo last week. Unlike Ohio, which has been playing games they can coast in for most of it, Ball State has played in nothing but close games. Their past six games have all been one-score games, but they did go 4-2 in those games. One area of opportunity that Ball State has on the defense is in stopping their opponent's running game. They are giving up a whopping 184.4 yards per game to opponents. While that isn't a huge strength of Ohio, I think they might alter their game plan to take advantage of it.

I think that Ohio takes this game with relative ease. Their defense has improved and their offense has the capability to move the ball effectively against Ball State. I do expect Ball State to get some scores against Ohio. My angle for this game is over 56.5 for the game. I also think that Ohio covers this game at just -4.

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