The Kent State Golden Flashes and the Eastern Michigan Eagles meet in week 7 college football MAC-tion from Rynearson Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Kent State Drops Third Straight

The Kent State Golden Flashes come into this game as losers of three straight after a 42-17 loss to Ohio in their last game. Michael Alaimo has thrown for 870 yards, 2 touchdowns and 4 interceptions on 57.4% passing while Gavin Garcia leads Kent State’s ground attack with 337 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns. Jaylen Thomas and Xavier Williams each have 100+ rushing yards. Chrishon McCray has a team-high 25 receptions and 327 receiving yards with 2 touchdowns while Trell Harris has 233 receiving yards and Jameel Gardner Jr. has 121 receiving yards. On defense, Devin Nicholson has a team-high 42 total tackles while CJ West has a pair of sacks. As a unit, Kent State has 7 sacks and 4 interceptions.

Kent State Golden Flashes Team Facts

• Kent State has lost each of its last 10 October games as an underdog.
• Kent State has failed to cover the spread in each of its last five October games against non-AP-ranked teams.
• Each of Kent State’s last four October games as an underdog against non-AP-ranked teams have gone OVER the total points line.

Eastern Michigan Takes Out Ball State

The Eastern Michigan Eagles managed to upend the Ball State Cardinals in their last game by a final count of 24-10. Austin Smith has thrown for 834 yards, 5 touchdowns and 3 interceptions on 61.2% passing while Jaylon Jackson has 297 rushing yards to lead EMU and Samson Evans has 284 rushing yards with 3 TDs. Tanner Knue has a team-high 25 receptions for 210 yards and 2 touchdowns, while three more eagles have 100+ receiving yards as well this season. On defense, Joe Sparacio has a team-high 69 total tackles while Mikah Coleman has a team-high 3 sacks and Bennett Walker has 3 INTs. As a unit, Eastern Michigan has 12 sacks and 5 interceptions this season.

Eastern Michigan Eagles Team Facts

• The home team has won each of Eastern Michigan’s last six games.
• The underdog has covered the spread in 10 of Eastern Michigan’s last 11 games at Rynearson Stadium.
• Eastern Michigan has won the first half in each of its last three home games against conference opponents.
• Each of Eastern Michigan’s last five October games as a home favorite against non-AP-ranked teams have gone UNDER the total points line.

Matchup/League Facts

• Eastern Michigan rank T38th among FBS teams for points allowed per game this season (20.3).
• Kent State has suffered the equal-most road losses by a margin of 10+ points of any FBS team this season (4).
• Kent State has suffered the most road losses by a margin of 15+ points of any FBS team this season (4).

Chris’ Pick

I’m looking at the over here. I was initially pointed towards the under, but this is the lowest total we’ve had in this matchup in a few years and while the under’s been profitable lately in this matchup, it’s because we’ve had totals in the high-50s at the very least. I still think this total can get well into the 40s as Kent State’s defense has been a sieve, and while Eastern Michigan hasn’t been great offensively, they can still put up some points. I’m not rushing to bet this thing, but I’ll back the over.