UAB (8-4) vs Ohio (8-4)
When: Friday, December 22nd 2017
Where: Thomas Robinson Stadium, Nassau, Bahamas
Time: 12:30 ET | TV: ESPN
Opening Odds: Ohio -7/57.5
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The Alabama-Birmingham Blazers were out of football completely for two seasons after budget cuts, but in their first year back on the field, UAB will be playing in its second ever postseason game when they take on the Ohio Bobcats in the Bahamas Bowl. UAB won a school-record eight games under National Coach of the Year candidate Bill Clark, who led his team to a second place finish in the West Division of Conference USA. The offense isn’t prolific, but they do have a solid ground game that produced 27 touchdowns. Ohio finished second in the MAC’s East Division, one game behind Akron and fell to the Zips 37-34 in the second-to-last game of the regular season, snapping their four-game winning streak. Akron followed that up with a 31-24 road loss at Buffalo. Despite the consecutive defeats to end the season, Ohio win exactly eight games for te third straight season. Ohio is led by dual threat quarterback Nathan Rourke, who threw for three touchdowns and ran for three more in a 45-28 win over Miami (Ohio) on Halloween night in front of a national TV audience. The last time the Blazers played in a bowl game was in 2004, when they participated in the Hawaii Bowl.
Under Clark, who was named C-USA Coach of the Year, the Blazers went 6-0 at home and revitalized their fan base to lead the league in attendance. Defensive back Darious Williams earned All-American Honorable Mention accolades after leading the Blazers with five interceptions, including one in four straight games. UAB ranks a respectable 36th in the nation in overall defense (358.5) including 22nd against the pass (188.0). Quarterback A.J. Erdely passed for 2,077 yards with 16 touchdowns and just four interceptions while rushing for 289 yards and 13 more scores. Spencer Brown contributed 1,292 yards on the ground with 10 TDs while Andre Wilson was the team’s top receiver, catching 48 passes for 619 yards and six touchdowns.
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The Bobcats have lost their bowl game each of the last two years – Troy last season and Appalachian State two years ago. Rourke, who should be refreshed from the break after dealing with several nagging injuries, recorded 2,018 yards passing with 15 touchdowns and seven interceptions while rushing for 882 yards and 21 scores. A.J. Ouellette finished the regular season with 980 yards and seven TDs on 184 carries, while the Bobcats finished the regular season with the 14th-ranked scoring offense in the nation at 38.9 points a game.
NCAA FOOTBALL ODDS – SCORES – PUBLIC PLAYS
A lot of my bowl picks come down to a few factors and one of them is – how excited is this team to be playing in a bowl game. UAB has a significant edge in this intangible and they’re good enough on the field of play to compete with Ohio here. This line is way too high.
Pick: UAB +7.5
TRENDS:
- Blazers are 5-0 ATS vs. a team with a winning record.
- Blazers are 7-2-1 ATS in their last 10 games overall.
- Blazers are 8-3 ATS in their last 11 games after accumulating less than 170 yards passing in their previous game.
- Blazers are 2-5-1 ATS in their last 8 games after allowing less than 170 yards passing in their previous game.
- Blazers are 3-8 ATS in their last 11 games on grass.
- Bobcats are 12-2 ATS vs. a team with a winning record.
- Bobcats are 6-1 ATS in their last 7 games in December.
- Bobcats are 6-1 ATS in their last 7 neutral site games.
- Bobcats are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 bowl games.
- Bobcats are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 Bowl games.
- Bobcats are 12-4 ATS in their last 16 Friday games.
- Bobcats are 21-8 ATS in their last 29 non-conference games.
- Bobcats are 5-2 ATS in their last 7 games after allowing less than 100 yards rushing in their previous game.
- Bobcats are 10-4 ATS in their last 14 games overall.
- Bobcats are 7-3 ATS in their last 10 games following a ATS loss.
- Bobcats are 34-16-1 ATS in their last 51 games on grass.
- Bobcats are 36-17 ATS in their last 53 games after allowing more than 280 yards passing in their previous game.
- Over is 4-0 in Blazers last 4 Friday games.
- Over is 9-1 in Blazers last 10 games after accumulating less than 170 yards passing in their previous game.
- Under is 7-1 in Blazers last 8 games overall.
- Over is 4-1 in Blazers last 5 games after allowing less than 20 points in their previous game.
- Under is 4-1 in Blazers last 5 games following a straight up win.
- Under is 4-1 in Blazers last 5 vs. a team with a winning record.
- Over is 6-2 in Blazers last 8 games on grass.
- Under is 9-4 in Blazers last 13 games following a straight up win of more than 20 points.
- Over is 11-5 in Blazers last 16 non-conference games.
- Over is 5-0 in Bobcats last 5 non-conference games.
- Over is 3-0-1 in Bobcats last 4 games following a straight up loss.
- Over is 5-1 in Bobcats last 6 games after allowing less than 100 yards rushing in their previous game.
- Under is 5-1 in Bobcats last 6 vs. CUSA.
- Over is 4-1-1 in Bobcats last 6 games overall.
- Under is 7-2-1 in Bobcats last 10 games following a ATS loss.
- Under is 20-6-1 in Bobcats last 27 games after allowing more than 280 yards passing in their previous game.
- Over is 3-1-2 in Bobcats last 6 Friday games.
- Under is 3-1-1 in Bobcats last 5 games on grass.
- Under is 8-3-1 in Bobcats last 12 neutral site games.
- Under is 18-7-2 in Bobcats last 27 vs. a team with a winning record.
