Eastern Michigan vs Kent State (11/16/22 – 6:00 pm EST)
Line: Kent State -7.5
O/U: 61.5
The temperature is boiling in the Mid-American Conference (MAC) where teams are clawing their way to the top of the standings for a spot in a Bowl game. With that in mind, the Eastern Michigan Eagles head into Dix Stadium in Northeast Ohio to take on the Kent State Golden Flashes. The Eagles are coming off a 34-28 road win over Akron while the Golden Flashes pulverized Bowling Green 40-6 last Saturday, also on the road.
Eastern Michigan Analysis
Eastern Michigan has had a solid season thus far after 10 games played, sitting at 6-4 overall and 3-3 in the MAC East where they’re tied for second place and behind 5-1 Toledo. Eastern Michigan has gone 4-5-1 versus the spread while they’re an even 5-5 against the over/under.
The Eagles don’t particularly stand out at anything but they’ve had some solid performances this season such as their 45-23 victory over Western Michigan. Their biggest win of the season, however, was last weekend’s victory over the Zips as it made Eastern Michigan bowl eligible. Part of their winning season so far can be attributed to a secondary holding opponents to only 219.7 yards a contest, 57th in the country.
A significant part of the Eagles’ offense runs through their top running back, Samson Adams who has gone for 854 yards on 168 carries and scoring 11 touchdowns along the way. Quarterback Taylor Powell has tossed 1232 yards but has only eight TD passes against seven interceptions and has been sacked 19 times.
Kent State Analysis
Although the Golden Flashes are favored in this game, one wouldn’t think so considering their 4-6 record on the season and being tied for second place with three other teams in the MAC West at 3-3. That being said, they’re coming off an impressive victory over Bowling Green and have won their last two home games with wins over Akron and Ohio. Kent State has gone 4-6 against the spread while struggling more against the over/under at 3-6-1.
The Golden Flashes have won two of their last three games, combining to put up 73 points in those two contests while only allowing 33 points. On the defensive end, Kent State doesn’t strike fear into opponents but they do on offense where they love to run the ball, churning out 210.3 yards a contest, which is good for 19th in the country. Their offense can also pile up yards as they’re averaging 429.4 yards per contest, 29th in the country, while they’ve only turned the ball over four times, good for 23rd-best. Kent State’s offense is run by dual-threat quarterback Collin Schlee who has thrown for 1945 yards and run for another 403 for a total of 2348 all-purpose yards on the season and 16 total touchdowns. He has a huge help in the backfield with running back Marquez Cooper carrying the ball a staggering 235 times already for 1106 yards on the ground to go with nine TDs
