Midweek MACtion continues across the country with a delightful Western Michigan vs. Bowling Green prediction. One team — the Broncos — is attempting to figure anything out on offense while the other — the Falcons — is finding their rhythm on both sides of the ball. As such, this is a favorable matchup for Bowling Green.
Western Michigan vs. Bowling Green Betting Preview
- Spread
Bowling Green (-4.5) - Moneyline
Bowling Green (-200); Western Michigan (+170) - Over/Under
47.5 points - Game time
7 p.m. ET - Location
Doyt L. Perry Stadium, Bowling Green, OH - Predicted weather at kickoff
60 degrees, mostly clear, 2-3 mph winds - How to watch
fuboTV, ESPN 2
Top DFS Picks and Fantasy Plays
FanDuel gives you $60,000 to make your best lineup and $10 bonus off your $1 entry if you make your lineups here.
- QB Matt McDonald, Bowling Green ($11,000)
- QB Treyson Bourguet, Western Michigan ($7,500)
- QB Jack Salopek, Western Michigan ($7,500)
- QB Mareyohn Hrabowski, Western Michigan ($6,000)
- RB Sean Tyler, Western Michigan ($8,600)
- RB Jaison Patterson, Bowling Green ($7,800)
- RB Taron Keith, Bowling Green ($6,200)
- RB Jamal Johnson, Bowling Green ($5,500)
- RB Nick Mosley, Bowling Green ($5,000)
- WR Odieu Hiliare, Bowling Green ($7,300)
- WR Corey Crooms, Western Michigan ($7,100)
- WR Jehlani Galloway, Western Michigan ($6,500)
- WR Tyrone Broden, Bowling Green ($6,100)
- WR CJ Lewis, Bowling Green ($5,700)
- WR Anthony Sambucci, Western Michigan ($5,500)
- WR Cavon Croom, Bowling Green ($5,100)
- TE Christian Sims, Bowling Green ($6,000)
- TE Harold Fannin Jr., Bowling Green ($5,600)
- TE Blake Bosma, Western Michigan ($5,200)
- TE Andrew Bench, Bowling Green ($5,000)
If you haven’t seen Tyrone Broden play for Bowling Green, get in on this action. Broden is 6’7″ and 215 pounds. He is a massive man who moves very well for his size. Broden also frees up mismatches for his teammates all over the field.
Grab Odieu Hiliare against a WMU defense that allows nearly eight yards per pass attempt this season. Hiliare needs very little to make highlight-reel catches happen, and Matt McDonald is starting to trust him.
MORE: Early College Football Picks, Predictions for Week 10
At their current prices, stacking the trio of McDonald, Hiliare, and Broden isn’t out of the question. This is especially true since it’d be in your best interest to not pick up anyone on Western Michigan’s struggling offense.
Elsewhere, Bowling Green’s rushing attack is relatively nonexistent this year, but tight end Harold Fannin Jr. has found the end zone on the ground in their last two games and three times all year. He’s becoming a focal point of the offense and could see his touches increase. It’s still a risky play, however.
Prediction for Western Michigan vs. Bowling Green
Western Michigan’s offense has been atrocious this season. They’ve scored more than 16 points in just two games against FBS competition, and one of those was a 22-point loss to Eastern Michigan. They’ve combined to score 30 points over their last two outings and were held to just 32 points in the month of September, save for what now looks like an anomaly of a performance against Ball State.
Swapping things around for Treyson Bourguet at quarterback paved the way to a victory in Week 8 but it was hardly because of their signal-caller. In fact, Bourguet averaged fewer than four yards per attempt and completed fewer than 50% of his throws in the victory.
Sean Tyler helped paved the way against Miami (OH) with over 100 yards and a touchdown on the ground, while Zahir Abdus-Salaam and even backup QB Mareyohn Hrabowski chipped in with assistance on the ground.
MORE: Week 9 College Football Team of the Week
It’s far too much of a challenge, however, to match up with a talented Bowling Green defense with WMU’s paltry 3.34 yards per rush attempt this season that ranks 10th in the conference.
BGSU is paced by linebackers Darren Anders, JB Brown, and DJ Taylor, Anders being a preseason All-American. This group has slowly gotten back up to their standards and has limited their last two opponents to just 31 points between the two of them.
It also helps when QB Matt McDonald has begun to play up to his billing as well. McDonald averaged a whopping 12.5 yards per attempt against Central Michigan, throwing just two incompletions in a dominant outing. For the year, he has 16 touchdowns against just three interceptions and has begun to find his talented receiving corps at will.
Broden stands at 6’7″ and is a complete mismatch in coverage for anyone on WMU’s defense. Hiliare has some of the best highlight-reel moments so far this season, and no football is out of his reach at the catch point.
The talented playmakers get the job done, while WMU’s offense doesn’t move much against BGSU’s defense.
Prediction: Bowling Green 27, Western Michigan 14