We have some early-week MACtion on Tuesday between the Buffalo Bulls and the Miami (OH) RedHawks. This one is a battle at the top of the conference standings, standings which are for now quite crowded and top-heavy. These are two of the four 1-loss teams chasing the still-unbeaten Ohio Bobcats. These are also two very similar teams, both profiling as run-heavy teams that rely on the defense. This game will most likely stay close and low-scoring, and that has me looking at the points with the underdog. Give me Buffalo +6.5.
Miami was a very different team earlier in the season, but a quarterback injury changed things. Now, the RedHawks can’t throw the ball well at all, and they mostly don’t try. They were forced into it a bit last week, but that was an odd break from their usual game script. For Buffalo, running the ball was always the intent. This game will likely come down to which defense stops the run the best. The RedHawks rank 13th in the country in rushing yards allowed, and that certainly gives them a huge advantage in this matchup. The Bulls, however, are not bad in that department either, and if you factor out a 300-yd game by Penn State, the Bulls have been quite effective against the run otherwise. I think this game stays much closer between two very similar teams. Take the points with the Bulls.
Buffalo vs Miami (OH) prediction: Buffalo +6.5 (-110) available at time of publishing. Playable to +4.5.
