New Orleans Bowl: Ohio Bobcats Will Run Against the Troy Trojans in the Big Easy

The college football bowl season continues with a decent match up in the New Orleans Bowl.

The Troy Trojans take on the Ohio Bobcats in the 10th annual R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl, this Saturday night in the Louisiana Superdome. The latest college football odds posted by onlinesportsbook BetMania have the Trojans listed as slight one point favorites.

The Trojans come in with a 7-5 record and a partial Sun Belt title, while the Bobcats finished with a record of 8-4, and that was good for second place behind Miami (OH) in the MAC East.

Ohio had a chance to win the East Division of the MAC along with a trip to the MAC Championship Game but came up short in a loss at Kent State in their season finale. Now the Bobcats will look to finish the season on a positive note and defeat the Trojans.

The Bobcats super season was fueled by the strength of its defense, which allowed 21.8 points per game and just over 300 yards.

The Bobcats were outstanding against the run, allowing only 98.9 rushing yards per game to a mostly run oriented conference. If the Bobcats had a weakness it was in a pass defense that surrendered 7.3 yards per attempt, and will have to find a way to stop the Trojans if they hope to win.

The Trojans offense is statistically sound averaging 32.9 points on 155.3 rushing yards and 289.4 passing yards per game.

Quarterback Corey Robinson is a safe signal caller that can manipulate the defense with his pinpoint control of the offense. This balanced attack allows the Trojans to keep their opponent guessing and control the time of possession.

This is important for the Trojans, because their weakness is on the defensive side of the ball.

The Trojan defense is allowing 31.0 points on 419.2 yards per game and the Bobcats will try and expose their weakness behind a strong running attack.

The Bobcats can pound it on the ground, averaging over 170 yards rushing per game on the season. If the Trojans can’t find a way to stop the ground game they will have no shot of beating Ohio.

The Bobcats are 7-2 against the spread (ATS) in their last nine games overall and 7-1 ATS in their last eight games as an underdog. The Trojans are 1-4-1 ATS in their last six non-conference games and just 2-7 ATS in the last nine as a favorite.

If defense wins ballgames than the edge in this game goes to Ohio.

Matt Regaw is a B/R Featured Columnist and the founder of BookieBlitz.com, your one-stop shop for sports articles, previews and predictions. Feel free to contact Matt at [e-mail].

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