A battle of MAC teams takes place this week as the Bowling Green Falcons travel to Kent, Ohio to take on the Kent State Golden Flashes. The start time is 12:00 pm (Eastern) and the game will be televised on ESPN3. Current Odds have Bowling Green listed as 7 point favorites, while the total sits at 45.
Analysis: Bowling green started off their year in fine fashion with a 34-7 whipping of Tulsa, wh were the defending Conference USA chapions. The Falcons are a loaded team with nine starters back on both sides of the ball from the 2012 unit that finished 6-2 in MAC play. Coach Dave Clawson has led the team to a bowl game in two of his five seasons at the school. BGSU is just 1-3 in road openers under Clawson, although two of those setbacks came against ranked foes. The Bowling green offense was solid in the opener, but this team will win games mainly because of their stifling defense. The Falcons finished in the top 10 in the nation in both total defense (296.6 ypg) and scoring defense (16.8 ppg), and they picked up where left off, by limiting the Golden Hurricanes to just 273 total yards and 12 first down in the game. Watch for this defense to continue to play well all year.
Paul Haynes began his head coaching career with a 17-10 victory over Liberty last week. That win gave the Golden Flashes their 11th straight regular season win. This week Paul will get his first taste of MAC play and will try to extend the Golden Flashes win streak to 12 games over MAC foes. Haynes became the first Kent State head coach to win his debut since 1988. KSU had one of the most dynamic rushing attacks in the nation with Dri Archer and Trayion Durham combining for 2,745 yards and 30 touchdowns last year. Archer, though, injured his ankle early in the opener against Liberty and did not return. The offense sputtered without and KSU fell behind 10-0. Durham did run for 92 yards on 21 attempts and redshirt freshman Colin Reardon went 21-of-28 passing for 194 yards and two touchdowns. The rookie signal caller was not picked off or sacked and also ran for 38 yards, while throwing the game winning TD pass with about 4 minutes left in the game. Archer is questionable to play this week. KSU avoided a loss to an FCS thanks to a strong defensive effort that limited Liberty to just 222 yards of total offense in the contest.
Pick: Can't look no where else but the Under in his one. The Bowling green offense is not explosive and will play many conservative games this year, especially knowing that they have that solid defense to fall back on. Today the will also be facing a Kent State defense that could e better than last year's group that allowed just 24.5 ppg. The Kent State offense could be without Dri Archer again and they showed that they will struggle without him. Last week they were able to put up just 17 points and 361 yards vs an FCS foe. Now they take on the best defense in the MAC and a team that could finish in the top 10 nationally this year. This is a huge game in the MAC and with two very stout defenses on the field and a couple of conservative offenses I will look for no more than 38 points in this one.
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