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How and what to watch for Bowling Green vs. Akron

Both the Falcons and Zips will be vying for their first regular season wins on Saturday afternoon.

Bowling Green Falcons Running Back Terion Stewart reacts to scoring a touchdown during the second half of the College Football game between the Buffalo Bulls and the Bowling Green Falcons on November 17, 2020, at Doyt Perry Stadium in Bowling Green, OH. Photo by Gregory Fisher/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

In a battle of the winless MACtion teams, the Bowling Green Falcons will take on the Akron Zips Saturday at 2:00 p.m. ET in Akron, OH.

Bowling Green (0-4) is coming into this weekend’s contest off of a disappointing 52-10 loss to Ohio Bobcats. It was the fourth time out of five games that the Falcons scored less than 20 points. They struggled on both sides of the ball, especially on defense. Bobcats running back De’Montre Tuggle gashed Bowling Green for a game-high 185 yards and three touchdowns. They also allowed both Ohio QBs in Kurtis Rourke and Armani Rogers to score two total touchdowns each.

Offensively the lone bright spot for BGSU was running back Andrew Clair, who had 118 yards on 15 carries. Quarterback Matt McDonald struggled, completing 45 percent of his passes for 125 yards, a touchdown, and three interceptions. This season, McDonald has a touchdown, six interceptions, and 15.5 QBR. He’ll be looking to improve next week against an Akron defense that is giving up 264 passing yards per game.

As for the Zips, they too are coming off of a humiliating 38-7 loss to the hands of Miami (OH). In that game Akron’s defense did not have an answer for the duo of quarterback Brett Gabbert and wide receiver Jack Sorenson. Gabbert was 18-of-27 for 308, four touchdowns and zero interceptions. All of his touchdown passes went to Sorenson, who had eight receptions for 177 yards.

Luckily, Akron will be facing a low-scoring Bowling Green team that is only averaging 13.5 points per game. But both teams do give up over 40 points per game so something will have to give.

Game Time/TV Channel/Streaming

You can watch Bowling Green vs. Akron on Saturday, December 5th at 2:00 p.m. ET on ESPN3, or you can stream it via the ESPN app with a cable or streaming service login.

Point Spread, Totals, Odds, Trends

Point spread: Bowling Green vs. Akron (-2.5)
Point Total: 57.5
Money line: Bowling Green (+110) vs. Akron (-134)

  • Bowling Green has a record of 1-6 against the spread in its last seven games, going back to 2019.
  • Coincidentally, the Falcons have a record of 0-7 straight up in it last seven games over the same period of time.
  • Just like Bowling Green, Akron has not been great against the spread either, with a 2-14 record in its last 16 games.
  • Additionally, the Zips are winless at home with a record 0-10.

Betting splits

Bowling Green: (70% of handle, 24% percent of bets)
Akron: (30% of handle, 76% percent of bets)

The Best Bet

In another MACtion game this week, we have the battle of the winless teams between Bowling Green and Akron. Last week, both teams got humiliated and blown out by at least 30 points. Saturday’s game should not feature a lot of scoring as both teams only average 13.5 and 16.2 points, respectively.

Pick: Under 57.5

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