Buffalo at Ball State: MAC Championship prediction and game preview.
Buffalo at Ball State: MAC Championship Broadcast
Date: Friday, December 18
Game Time: 7:30 pm
Venue: Ford Field, Detroit, MI
Network: ESPN
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Buffalo (5-1) vs Ball State (5-0) Game Preview
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Three Reasons Why You Should Watch The MAC Championship
– 3 Reasons: Jaret Patterson, Jaret Patterson, and Jaret Patterson. Buffalo’s 5-9, 195-pound pinball running back ran for close to 1,800 yards and 19 scores as a sophomore after running for 1,013 yards and 14 touchdowns as a freshman. In just five games he tore off 1,025 yards and 18 touchdowns highlighted by his eight-score day against Kent State. He’s worth the watch.
– This could’ve been a special battle of backs, but Ball State’s Caleb Huntley has opted out and is done for the year. However, the Cardinals still have a good ground game with Justin Hall coming off a 175-yard, two-score day on just ten carries against Western Michigan. He’s not Patterson, but he’s a dangerous gamebreaker.
– This is going to be fun. Buffalo has been one of the MAC’s best teams over the last four years, but it gagged away the 2018 MAC Championship to Northern Illinois and totally whiffed last year with a brutal loss to Kent State that kept it out of the title game. It has a shot at its first MAC title since getting it done in 2008 under Turner Gill. It’s going to care.
Ball State hasn’t had a winning season since 2013, and it hasn’t been in the MAC title game since 2008 when Brady Hoke’s 12-0 squad lost to that Buffalo team. It’s going to care.
Why Buffalo, Ball State Will Win
What’s Going to Happen, Prediction, History
NEXT: Why Buffalo Will Win, Why Ball State Will Win, Buffalo at Ball State Prediction
Why Buffalo Will Win
– Jaret Patterson might be the team’s signature star, but Kevin Marks is a big-time back, too for the nation’s leading rushing attack. He’s bigger than Patterson and can tear off big yards in chunks, running for 510 yards and five scores – averaging 7.5 yards per carry in his five games. That 1-2 rushing punch should be able to go off on a Ball State run defense that’s fine, but can be shoved by anyone who commits to the ground attack.
– Buffalo doesn’t give the ball away. It has only played five games and hasn’t had a whole lot of opportunities to screw up, and it’s been air-tight. There were two turnovers in the win over Northern Illinois to start the season, and that’s been about it with just one giveaway over the last four games.
– Ball State’s offensive line is strong for the running game, but struggles in pass protection. Buffalo isn’t dominant in the backfield, but it brings just enough pressure to be a problem. The UB D has been outstanding on third downs. Get to QB Drew Plitt and slow down the tempo, and the stops will follow.
– Championship Week Schedule & Predictions
Why Ball State Will Win
– The offense has found a nice groove. The backs have been there to run in chunks, but without Caleb Huntley over the last three games, the offense has relied even more on QB Drew Plitt, and he came through with 13 touchdown passes on the year while spreading out his five interceptions through five different games. This is an efficient offense that has a knack for coming through when it absolutely has to.
– Can Ball State handle the Buffalo running game? Short answer, sort of. It can get hammered for big yards, but it doesn’t get gouged all that badly. Eastern Michigan was the only team able to rip off enough big runs to be a concern. Everyone else – including Western Michigan, who committed to the run last week in a 30-27 Ball State win – struggle to get close to five yards per carry. Think bend-but-don’t-often-break with this group.
– Buffalo hasn’t had to throw. It’s not that it can’t, but it hasn’t needed to. Can Ball State make UB have to start pushing the passing game? Kyle Vantrease threw for 353 yards and four touchdowns in the win over Miami University, but that was about it. He hasn’t been all that accurate again everyone else, and he only has two touchdown passes in the other four games. Ball State has to test him.
NEXT: What’s Going To Happen, Buffalo at Ball State Prediction, MAC Championship History
What’s Going To Happen
The MAC Championship has a weird way of not going according to form – at least compared to other conference championships. Being the best team in the conference hasn’t always mattered in this.
Ball State has a veteran team put together over a nice building job done by head coach Mike Neu, and it has the offense to keep up the pace even when Buffalo starts rolling.
Three of Buffalo’s five wins came against Northern Illinois, Akron and Bowling Green, who have one win between them – Akron over Bowling Green. However, the Bulls handed Miami University and Kent State their only losses.
Buffalo wins, but it has to hold on after getting up fast. Ball State will make this interesting, and the Jaret Patterson and the ground game will take over in the fourth.
MAC Championship: Buffalo at Ball State Prediction, Line
Buffalo 41, Ball State 27
Bet on Buffalo at Ball State with BetMGM
Buffalo -13.5, o/u: 66.5
ATS Confidence out of 5: 1.5
Must See Rating: 3.5
5: Mank
1: Saved By The Bell
MAC Championship History
2019 Miami University 26, Central Michigan 21
2018 Northern Illinois 30, Buffalo 29
2017 Toledo 45, Akron 28
2016 Western Michigan 29, Ohio 23
2015 Bowling Green 34, Northern Illinois 14
2014 Northern Illinois 51, Bowling Green 17
2013 Bowling Green 47, Northern Illinois 27
2012 Northern Illinois 44, Kent State 37 2OT
2011 Northern Illinois 23, Ohio 20
2010 Miami University 26, Northern Illinois 21
2009 Central Michigan 20, Ohio 10
2008 Buffalo 42, Ball State 24
2007 Central Michigan 35, Miami University 10
2006 Central Michigan 31, Ohio 10
2005 Akron 31, Northern Illinois 30
2004 Toledo 35, Miami University 27
2003 Miami University 49, Bowling Green 27
2003 Marshall 49, Toledo 45
2002 Marshall 49, Toledo 45
2001 Toledo 41, Marshall 36
2000 Marshall 19, Western Michigan 14
1999 Marshall 34, Western Michigan 30
1998 Marshall 23, Toledo 17
1997 Marshall 34, Toledo 14
