East Carolina vs Ohio College Football Spread/Handicapping
Getting good matchups for Bowl games is sometimes tricky because of all the automatic tie-ins. I think that one can be a very spirited matchup because these are two well coached teams and even though they have different strengths I think they are kind of evenly matched, even if the number doesn’t suggest that.
East Carolina Pirates vs. Ohio Bobcats
Monday December 23
Tropicana Field – St. Petersburg, FL
2:00PM
Moneyline: East Carolina -550, Ohio +425
Spread: East Carolina -14
O/U: 61.5
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Though this game is hardly must watch and is in an odds time slot I think it will deliver well on entertainment value, if not much else.
East Carolina
The Pirates enjoyed another very good season, their last in Conference USA before joining the American Athletic Conference next year. They knocked off two ACC schools (North Carolina and NC State) in the nonconference and finished 6-2 in CUSA, just a game back of Marshall in the East Division.
As has become the new normal in Greeneville this is a pass first team that can really put points on the board.
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The combination of QB Shane Carden and WR Justin Hardy is prolific one and will need to be contained if Ohio wants to stay in the game.
On defense they have improved from season’s past but sometimes their pace puts the defense in some tougher situations than they would like.
Looking at that spread, and the total, it doesn’t look like the oddsmakers think the Pirates are going to slow things down for this one.
I don’t either but I am not sure the spread isn’t a little too generous given what should be good conditions field conditions and time to prepare for this one.
Ohio
The Bobcats have killed me repeatedly this season so maybe I am just a glutton for punishment in thinking they might be able to keep things close in this bowl game.
At one point this season they won 6 of 7 games but then they crashed hard down the stretch.
These teams have one common opponent this season, Marshall, who the Bobcats beat but the Pirates lost to preventing them from taking their place in the CUSA championship.
I don’t want to read too much into it but at least makes me think these teams are maybe not as far off as the line suggests.
The key for Ohio will be whether they can get their running game going. It is what they feed off and what their coach knows best from his days at Nebraska.
Defending the run is the strength of the Pirates defense though and I am not sure that QB Tyler Tettleton can match Carden throw for throw if he needs too – he just doesn’t have the weapons that ECU does on the outside.
Spread Pick: Ohio +14
O/U Pick: Over
Score Prediction: East Carolina 41 – Ohio 31
