GMAC Bowl Tulsa vs Ball State
Ball State is already shy of personnel. Coach Brady Hoke, an alum, took a better offer from San Diego State, which is a lowly team. That should tell you a little about the state of the Ball State football program. Taking over the team for this ballgame is Stan Parrish, who was formerly a coach at Kansas State and won two out of 33 games. For a team that was one of only a handful of unbeatens until its conference title game, that’s a strange guy to be handing the keys to.
BetUS NCAA Football Betting Odds: PICK’EM, Total 76.5
Here are some of the NCAA college football betting trends as they relate to this matchup:
* BSU has covered nine of its last 12 games
* BSU has won 14 of its last 16 games SU
* BSU has played five of its last eight games UNDER the total
* TUL has covered one of its last five games
* TUL has won 16 of its last 20 games SU
Speaking of that conference title game, Ball State never let itself get going, committing five turnovers en route to a 42-24 defeat to Buffalo, which makes an appearance in the International Bowl as the MAC champion. Maybe that was an aberration, considering the Cards’ +8 turnover margin on the year. Nate Davis, who threw 26 TD passes with just seven interceptions, had 351 yards on 48 attempts in that game.
Because there were so many bowls, the MAC sent five teams into the post-season; Central Michigan, Western Michigan and Northern Illinois were on that list too. In last year’s International Bowl, Ball State was routed 52-30 by Rutgers, which was able to pound the ball behind the now-departed Ray Rice; Tulsa obviously does its best work through the air. David Johnson, who patiently waited his turn for three years, took over the offense after the graduation of Paul Smith and threw for 43 TD’s and ranked first in the nation in passing efficiency. But he blew up in the Conference USA title game against East Carolina, tossing five pickoffs.
Tulsa allowed 29 passing TD’s on the year, including one game where the Hurricane “stop” unit was shredded for 641 yards and 70 points by Houston. That’s the price of ringing up big numbers on the offensive side, I guess. Tulsa, which just signed coach Todd Graham to a 10-year extension, has great balance, racking up 259 rushing yards a game and rambling for 5.6 yards an attempt. They also like this bowl game, having destroyed Bowling Green 63-7 last year.
It’s important to point out that Ball State can run the ball too, behind MiQuale Lewis, who had 1701 yards and 22 touchdowns. Davis and Parrish, who was the offensive coordinator, did a good job of adapting to the loss of Dante Love, who was the nation’s second-leading receiver when he fractured his spine, ending his career. The Cards have a decided edge on the defensive side, as they have allowed more than 24 points only one, in the loss to Buffalo where they helped things out with all those turnovers. Davis (only 13 INT’s the last two seasons), who will find his way into the NFL, will not be so generous to the Tulsa defense, which is not inclined to pick up on these things anyway.
How good either of these teams are is subject to some debate. On this day, however, it will be the Cardinals in this pick’em game in the BetUS NCAA college football sports betting odds.
