MAC: Central Michigan vs Ball State 10/8/22 College Football Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Central Michigan Chippewas and Ball State Cardinals do battle Saturday in a week 6 MAC college football game from Kelly/Shorts Stadium.

The Ball State Cardinals will be out to build on their 44-38 OT win over Northern Illinois in their last game. John Paddock has thrown for 1,538 yards, 11 touchdowns and 6 picks on 64.8% passing while Carson Steele’s rushed for a team-high 486 yards and 5 touchdowns. Jayshon Jackson has a team-high 38 grabs for 447 receiving yards while Yo’Heinz Tyler and Tanner Koziol each have 200+ receiving yards as well this season. On defense, Jordan Riley and Jaquan Amos each have a team-high 34 total tackles and Ball State’s defensive unit has 4 interceptions this season.

The Central Michigan Chippewas will try to bounce back from back-to-back losses after a 38-17 defeat at the hands of Toledo last time out. Daniel Richardson’s thrown for 1,376 yards, 11 touchdowns and 4 interceptions on 56.9% passing while Lew Nichols III leads the Chips with 363 rushing yards and 5 rushing TDs this season. Carlos Carriere leads the Chippewas’ receiving group with 27 grabs for 309 yards while Joel Wilson and Jalen McGaughy each have 200+ receiving yards with Wilson logging 4 touchdowns. On defense, Kyle Moretti leqds CMU with 35 total tackles including a team-high 22 solo tackles while Thomas Incoom has a team-high 4 sacks this season.

Ball State is 0-4 ATS in their last 4 road games and 0-4 ATS in their last 4 games following a win while the under is 10-4 in their last 14 games following a win. Central Michigan is 7-2-1 ATS in their last 10 games overall and 1-4-1 ATS in their last 6 games following a loss while the under is 5-1 in their last 6 games against a team with a losing record.

I get the case to be made for Central Michigan being favored here, as I like the Chips and think they’re extremely well coached and have a top-tier MAC QB in Richardson. However, This is a lot of points to be giving up with a Chippewas team that was just run over by Toledo. Ball State’s got an offense that can hang with the best of them in the conference, and they’ve had a ton of success against CMU in the past, covering each of the last 7 meetings. I think this is a one-score win for Central Michigan at best, so give me the Cardinals and the points here.