The Ball State Cardinals battle the Bowling Green Falcons this week in a game that will feature the country’s leading receiver, Roger Lewis (1,342 yards, 14 TDs), and second-leading passer, Matt Johnson (4,229 yards, 39 TDs). The Cardinals have gone 3-8 thus far, while the Falcons are 8-3. The game will air Tuesday, Nov 24 at 7:00 p.m. ET on ESP3.
In last week’s matchup, Ball State lost to Ohio 48-31. KeVonn Mabon had a great game in the loss, pulling in 10 receptions for 139 yards and one TD. Riley Neal also had a great game with 247 yards and two TDs through the air. Bowling Green also came up short, losing to Toledo 44-28. Gehrig Dieter had a huge game for the Falcons, grabbing 13 receptions for 103 yards and three TDs. Matt Johnson had a great game as well, adding 274 yards and three TDs through the air.
The Falcons are favored by 20 points against the Cardinals this week and the Over/Under (O/U) is currently not available.
Sitting at 3-8 Straight Up (SU) and 4-7 Against The Spread (ATS), the Cardinals will look to improve heading into Week 13. In their five most recent matchups, the Cardinals went 1-4 SU and 2-3 ATS. The Cardinals love to throw, ranking 22nd in the country with 38.1 throwing attempts per game. On average, the Falcons earn 8.8 flags each game, one of the worst rates in the nation. Such errors could be beneficial for the Cardinals if they persist into this week’s game.
In the other locker room, the Falcons head into Week 13 with records of 8-3 for both ATS and SU. Over their last five games, the Falcons have a SU and ATS record of 4-1 for those betting with them. Chances are Bowling Green will continue to rely on its passing attack, where its 401.4 passing yards per game ranks second in the nation. Over the last five games, the Falcons turned it up on defense, only allowing an average of 21 PPG. Their season average is 29.4 points, so they’ve shown a marked improvement. The Cardinals are matching up with Bowling Green’s pass defense at an inopportune time. Over the last five games, opponents only averaged 189.8 yards through the air, lower than Bowling Green’s season average of 264.4 yards. Teams need to stay focused in the first quarter against the fast-starting Falcons, who average 9.2 points in the first 15 minutes.
Predictions: SU Winner – Bowling Green, ATS Winner – Bowling Green
Notes
Ball State is 2-5 ATS in its last 7 games.
Ball State is 1-7 SU in its last 8 games.
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Ball State’s last 5 games.
Ball State is 3-9 ATS in its last 12 games at home.
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Ball State’s last 5 games at home.
Bowling Green is 7-1 SU when leading at the half this season. Ball State is 2-2 SU when taking a lead into halftime.
Remarkably, Bowling Green is only 1-2 SU in games where it comes out ahead in the turnover battle, yet undefeated (7-0 SU) when losing the turnover battle.
The Bowling Green rushing attack is ranked 80th in the country this year, compared to the 113th-ranked run defense of Ball State.
