Ohio vs Toledo MAC Championship prediction, game preview, odds, how to watch. Championship Week, Saturday, December 3
Ohio vs Toledo MAC Championship Prediction Game Preview
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Ohio vs Toledo How To Watch
Date: Saturday, December 3
Game Time: 12:00 ET
Venue: Ford Field, Detroit, MI
How To Watch: ESPN
Record: Ohio (9-3), Toledo (7-5)
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Why Ohio Will Win
Oh would this be sweet for the Ohio program.
Four times the bridesmaid but never the bride in the MAC Championship, Ohio became known for consistent excellence under Frank Solich, but it could never quite get over the hump and win the thing.
Eastern Michigan and Kent State are the only other MAC programs that haven’t won the championship game yet.
Successor Tim Ablin was supposed to keep it all going, but the 3-9 2021 season and 2-3 start wasn’t exactly confidence-inspiring.
And then it all kicked in.
Ohio is here with a chance at winning its first MAC Championship game because the offense exploded, the passing game was amazing, and the defense made up for a slew of issues with lots and lots of takeaways.
The team is +13 on the year in turnover margin, the running game is good enough to balance things out over the last few weeks, and now it all gets a semi-reeling Toledo team that lost its last two games and three of the last five helped by a whole bunch of turnovers.
They weren’t a problem over the first half of the year, and then things got ugly with six in the loss to Buffalo has part of a run of 16 given up over the last five games.
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Why Toledo Will Win
Oh would this be sweet for the Toledo program.
It’s gone 13 seasons without a losing campaign, but there’s always been that one misfire here and there that kept ruining shot after shot at the MAC title. The lone exception was the 2017 MAC Championship under Jason Candle, but that wasn’t the springboard it appeared to be at the time.
Getting it done this time would be a huge moment for Candle. It wouldn’t put him back in the Next Big Thing category of coaches, but it wouldn’t hurt.
After a year with a rough late collapse at San Diego State, a 77-21 loss at Ohio State, and a rocky finishing kick with no consistency whatsoever, this one game would make everything okay.
The big plays are there, but the accuracy with the passing game isn’t. That’s okay. Keep throwing it and eventually everything will open up against the nation’s worst pass defense.
Ohio allows over 300 passing yards per game with 200 or more in every game but the win over Northern Illinois. On the flip side, the Bobcat offense lost heart-and-soul star QB Kurtis Rourke for the season just before the finale. The 196 passing yards last week against Bowling Green were the fewest outside of the blowout loss to Penn State.
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What’s Going To Happen
Turnovers, turnovers, turnovers.
Toledo is 1-5 when giving it away multiple times – the lone win over Eastern Michigan was a 27-24 right – and 6-0 when it doesn’t.
Ohio will give up a ton of yards, but it’ll make up for it by generating those two takeaways it’ll need. No, the offense won’t be able to throw like Toledo will, but the running game will get enough to take control when the pass defense needs a break after getting roasted.
By the way, the USA World Cup showdown with The Netherlands should be close to over just as this gets started – unless it goes into extra time. If this gets into a shootout, it’ll be halftime before the fun is over in Doha.
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Ohio vs Toledo MAC Championship Prediction, Line
Ohio 30, Toledo 27
Line: Toledo -1.5, o/u: 54.5
ATS Confidence out of 5: 1.5
Ohio vs Toledo MAC Championship Must See Rating (out of 5): 4
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