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Sportsbook.com has posted betting odds on Thursday night’s GoDaddy.com Bowl between Middle Tennessee State and Miami Ohio with Middle Tennessee State the -2 favorite. The total on this game was 48.5.
Both little-known schools enter the GoDaddy.com Bowl (formerly the GMAC Bowl) with strong winning streaks. Middle Tennessee State won its final three games to become bowl eligible while Miami-Ohio (1-11 in 2009) shocked the nation by running off five wins in a row, capped off by a MAC Championship victory over 19-point-favorite Northern Illinois.
MTSU is led by senior QB Dwight Dasher who averages 230 yards of total offense (173.5 passing). He also has 14 INT in his eight games and is huge reason why the Blue Raiders rank last among all FBS schools in turnover margin per game (-1.33). Dasher has only thrown six touchdown passes this year, but three have come in the past two games. The Blue Raiders have done a nice job rushing the football, ranking 30th in the nation (179 YPG). Senior Phillip Tanner’s 841 rushing yards rank fourth in the Sun Belt and he has scored 11 times. On the defensive side of the ball, MTSU defends the pass very well (191 pass YPG, 22nd in nation) and averages 2.8 sacks per game, ranking 14th in the country.
Miami-Ohio will start sophomore Austin Boucher at QB for the fourth straight game due to Zac Dysert’s bizarre lacerated-spleen injury. Boucher played very well in the MAC Championship, with 333 passing yards and a touchdown. The RedHawks have the seventh-worst rushing offense in the nation (97 YPG), but senior RB Thomas Merriweather has 496 rushing yards and five touchdowns in his past four games. Unlike MTSU, Miami-Ohio has done a great job on the turnover front, ranking 21st in the nation with a +0.6 turnover margin per game. The RedHawks defense is 22nd in the land in yardage (336 YPG) and has only allowed 13.6 PPG during their five-game winning streak.
Middle Tennessee State is making its third bowl appearance, after upsetting Southern Miss in last year’s New Orleans Bowl 42-32. Miami-Ohio is 4-3 in its bowl history with just three appearances since 1976. The RedHawks’ last win came in this bowl series, a 49-28 drubbing of Louisville in 2003.
