The Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders and the Toledo Rockets will square off on Friday afternoon at the Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium in the Bahamas Bowl. The Blue Raiders are 6-6 this season and are coming off a 27-17 road win over the Florida Atlantic Owls. Sophomore quarterback Mike Dilello finished going 12-of-19 for 131 yards with a touchdown pass. The Rockets are 7-5 and are riding a three-game winning streak after defeating the Akron Zips 49-14 at home. Freshman quarterback Dequan Finn was 16-of-26 for 257 yards with four touchdowns.
Middle Tennessee at Toledo Betting Preview
Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders Preview: Marshall Keeping Order
Wide receiver Jimmy Marshall has been playing well for the Middle Tennessee Raiders this season as he has 45 receptions for 510 yards (11.3 yards per catch) with six receiving touchdowns. In his last game against Florida Atlantic, he finished with two catches for 16 yards (eight yards per reception).
The Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders have been an average defensive program this year as they are giving up 25.8 points per game. In their previous game against the Florida Atlantic Owls, Middle Tennessee allowed 17 points on 413 total yards of offense (328 passing, 85 rushing). The Owls were pretty good at converting as they went 6-of-19 on third down tries and 2-of-3 on fourth down attempts. Middle Tennessee forced a pair of turnovers in this game as well (one fumble recovery, one interception).
Toledo Rockets Preview: Junior Running Well
The Toledo Rockets have been running the ball well behind junior running back Bryant Koback as he has recorded 190 rushing attempts for 1,274 yards (6.7 yards per carry) with 15 rushing touchdowns as well as 29 receptions for 333 yards (11.5 yards per catch) with three receiving touchdowns. In his last game against Akron, Koback finished with 15 carries for 135 yards (nine yards per attempt) with two rushing touchdowns and two catches for 53 yards (26.5 yards per reception) with a receiving touchdown.
The defense of the Toledo Rockets has been playing pretty well this season as they are allowing 21 points per game. In their previous game against the Akron Zips, Toledo gave up 14 points on 365 total yards of offense (175 passing, 190 rushing). The Rockets need to defend the run a lot better here as they allowed 5.1 rushing yards per carry throughout the game. Akron managed to go 9-of-18 on third down and failed to convert on either of their fourth down attempts.
Who to Bet on Blue Raiders at Rockets
Looking at the top sportsbooks in the entire nation, the Toledo Rockets are currently listed as a 10 point favorite in a neutral site matchup. The Blue Raiders are going to struggle as they are without their starting quarterback Chase Cunningham (undisclosed) while wide receiver Jerjuan Newton (undisclosed) is questionable and wide receiver Bryce Mitchell (undisclosed) is ruled out.
The Rockets freshman quarterback Dequan Finn has been playing extremely well as he has 15 total touchdowns (13 passing, two rushing) to a single interception in his previous five games. Middle Tennessee is 1-7 against the spread in their previous eight December games while Toledo is 4-1 against the spread in their previous five games. All in all, go with the Toledo Rockets to cover the spread and win by multiple touchdowns in this game.
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