The Ohio Bobcats continue to be a solid team under Frank Solich even though they have yet to win a MAC Championship. Ohio had one of its best teams yet of the Solich era this season, but closed out the year with a thud and now has a heap of injuries heading into this game. As for the UAB Blazers, it’s been a storybook season. UAB was not only competitive in its first year back playing football, but finished the season with an 8-4 record and nearly played for the Conference USA Championship. Now, Bill Clark is hoping to give UAB a proper sendoff.
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College Football Opening Odds at BookMaker.eu
UAB +7.5
Ohio -7.5
Over/Under 57
Odds Analysis
The Blazers were a great team to bet on this season. Clark has been one of the more underrated coaches in college football since taking over this program and this year may have been his best work yet. UAB went 8-3-1 ATS and outright won four games in which his team was an underdog. That’s an incredible number. His defense was quite good too and that helped the under go 7-1 in UAB’s last eight games.
Ohio was putting together an amazing season before collapsing in its final two games. The Bobcats were 8-2 and had gone 8-2 ATS too and had just secured a big win against Toledo in their first game of November. However, the Bobcats were upset by a gamey Akron team on the road knocking them out of the MAC Championship picture and came out deflated the next week in a loss to Buffalo. Over was a great bet in Bobcats games this year with a record of 8-3-1.
Key Injuries
The Bobcats are very beat up heading into this game and may be without a significant number of their players. The biggest confirmed loss is that of star running back A.J. Ouellette. Ouellette averaged 5.3 yards per carry this season and helped this offense pick up big chunks of yardage on the ground. Additionally, back-up running back Dorian Brown, averaging 6.1 yards per carry, is considered questionable with a hip injury.
Ohio’s second-leading receiver, Brendan Cope, is considered questionable as well with an ankle injury. He joins Brown, WR Keevon Harris, OL Jared McCray, and DL Sam McKnight on the list of those officially questionable for the game.
QB Nathan Rourke is a little banged up too. He is expected to play and is considered probably, but left the game against Buffalo with an injury, and that’s something to keep an eye on.
Matchup to Watch
Although UAB likes to keep the ball on the ground and rely on its defense, the Blazers may need to air it out a bit to win this one.
Ohio has the nation’s 10th best run defense and has shut down most running games this year. However, the Bobcats are 110th in the country against the pass and are allowing over 260 yards per game through the air.
QB A.J. Erdely has mostly been a game manager this season, but doesn’t make mistakes. He almost led UAB to a victory over North Texas where the defense collapsed and was nearly perfect in a blowout win over Rice. With ample time to prepare, I believe Clark will add a few wrinkles to the passing game to surprise Ohio.
Free ATS Pick
With all the injuries to key Ohio players, I’m a little surprised to see them laying over a touchdown. Clark is a fantastic coach and will have a gameplan ready that will give his team a great chance to pull the upset. Don’t be surprised if they do.
College Football Odds: UAB 27, Ohio 24
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