Bowling Green Falcons vs Kent State Golden Flashes Prediction, Odds and Preview - 10/02/2021

Game Time: 3:30 pm ET, Saturday, October 2, 2021

Venue:  Dix Stadium, Kent, OH

Where to Watch:  ESPN+

DraftKings:  Point Spread:  BGSU +16.5, Kent State -16.5; Over/Under:  55.5 points

Bet365:  Point Spread:  BGSU +16.5, Kent State -16.5; Over/Under:  56 points

BetMGM:  Point Spread:  BGSU NL, Kent State NL; Over/Under:  55 points

 

Bowling Green Falcons:  2-2 (2nd place, MAC East)

Kent State Golden Flashes:  1-3 (3rd place, MAC East)

 

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Bowling Green Falcons:  won on the road on Sep. 25 against the Minnesota Golden Gophers 14-10.

Kent State Golden Flashes:  lost on the road on Sep. 25 against the Maryland Terrapins 37-16.

 

 

 

BGSU is coming into this game with a 2-2 record overall and they are 1-1 in their road games this season where they will be in this game. This will be their first conference matchup of the year. They started off the football season rocky losing to the Tennessee Vols and the South Alabama Jaguars but they have quickly bounced back with wins over the Murray State Racers and Minnesota in their last game. Matt McDonald played a decent game in that one as he completed 19/35 passes for 170 yards, no touchdown passes and 1 interception. Their run game was awful as Jaison Patterson led the team in rushing with 20 yards on 8 carries but they barely even attempted to run the ball. It was a quiet day for the receiving corps as well, as Christian Sims led the team in receiving with 51 yards on 6 receptions. Bryce Brand led the defense with 7 solo tackles in that game. Davon Ferguson led the defense in sacks with 2 while Brock Horne and Karl Brooks both had 1 sack each as well. Jordan Anderson and Devin Taylor both had 1 interception each as well in what was a solid performance by the defense holding Minnesota to just 10 points. They have scored 66 points in their first 4 games and they have allowed their opponents to score 80 points against them. Their offense is averaging 296.3 YPG while their defense is allowing 347.7 YPG.

 

Kent State is coming into this game with a 1-3 record overall and they are 1-0 in their home games this season where they will be in this game. This will also be their first conference matchup of the year. Their 1 win this season came against the VMI Keydets while their 3 losses came against the Texas A&M Aggies in their season-opener, the Iowa Hawkeyes, and Maryland in their last game. Even though they were blown out in that last game, QB Dustin Crum played a great game as he completed 19/33 passes for 308 total yards, 1 touchdown and no turnovers. They did not really get much of a run game going as Marquez Cooper led the team in rushing with 48 yards on 13 carries. Dante Cephas had a massive day for the receiving corps as he led them with 151 receiving yards and 1 touchdown on 10 receptions. Nykeim Johnson also had a decent day with 4 catches for 69 yards in that one. Dean Clark led the defense with 8 solo tackles while Elvis Hines was right behind him with 6 solo tackles. Zayin West recorded the only sack for his team in that game while KJ Sherald had the only interception for them. They have scored 93 points in their first 4 games and they have allowed their opponents to score 118 points against them. Their points for is a little skewed though as 60 of those 93 points scored this season came against VMI, a team from the FCS. Their offense is averaging 432.7 YPG while their defense is allowing 434.3 YPG.

 

The bookmakers have Kent State as a large favorite in this game while the total is set in the low 50's. BGSU will have a lot of confidence in this game as they are coming off of a huge 14-10 win over a Big Ten team, Minnesota. BGSU have not had a combined total go over 50 points in any of their 4 games this season. Kent State has also struggled with their offense this year as they have not scored more than 16 points against an FBS opponent in any of their games. This is an important conference matchup so this should be a tight defensive game. The best bet to make in this one on the under.

 

Bowling Green Kent State Prediction:  Our NCAAF Pick for Saturday, October 2, 2021 (3:30 pm ET start time) is Kent State 21 BGSU 13.

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Bowling Green Falcons: 76-63 ATS in road games. 93-87 ATS against conference opponents.

Kent State Golden Flashes: 44-51 ATS in home games. 48-59 ATS after 1 or more consecutive losses against the spread.

 

 

Bowling Green Falcons:  T. Stewart (RB) day-to-day - Lower Body injury. T. Raymore (RB) out for season - Knee injury.

Kent State Golden Flashes:  I. Vance (WR) Out indefinitely - Leg injury.

 

 

Bowling Green Falcons: MattMcDonald is one player to watch here. He is the quarterback of this offense and he is leading them well. Look for him to make the big throws as he is the most efficient player on this offense. If he is not playing well then the team will not be playing well on offense.

 

Kent State Golden Flashes: Dante Cephas is one player to watch here. He leads his team in receiving yards and he is coming off of a big game last week. Look for him to continue that great play and make some big catches in this game.

 

"I couldn't be more happy for a group of kids that have really been through a lot. We've got the 24-hour rule. We're going to celebrate for 24 hours, and then we're going to get back to the office." - Head coach Scott Loeffler after his team pulled off a huge upset in Minnesota.

 

 

 

"Anytime you have self-inflicted wounds that take points off the board, that's obviously an impact. Those are big-swing momentum plays. We have to do a great job of being so good that those calls don't come up because we execute and are able to do things at a very high level. I know our kids are capable of doing that and being so good that the refs don't matter." - Sean Lewis on his team taking costly penalties in key moments of the game such a scoring plates being called back.

 

 

WR Broden, Tyrone 

WR Osborne, Austin 

TE Sims, Christian 

TE Bench, Andrew 

QB McDonald, Matt 

RB Stewart, Terion 

 

WR Cephas, Dante 

WR Poke, Ja'Shaun 

WR Johnson, Nykeim 

TE Hackett, Aaron 

QB Crum, Dustin 

RB Cooper, Marquez 

 

Passing: M. McDonald (886)

Rushing: N. Mosley (74)

Receiving: A. Osborne (181)

Touchdowns: M. McDonald (3)

Sacks: W. Haire (2)

Tackles: D. Ferguson (21)

 

Passing: D. Crum (762)

Rushing: M. Cooper (247)

Receiving: D. Cephas (234)

Touchdowns: C. Schlee (2)

Sacks: A. Musolino (1)

Tackles: D. Clark (20)

 

Coaches:

Bowling Green Falcons: Scot Loeffler (3rd season)

Kent State Golden Flashes: Sean Lewis (4th season)

 

67 degrees F partly cloudy, 67% humidity, 0% chance of rain, up to 8 mph wind speeds NW.