2017 BOCA RATON BOWL – AKRON vs FLORIDA ATLANTIC
FLORIDA ATLANTIC -22.5 AKRON (63.5)
MEGALOCKS LINE – Florida Atlantic -17
Sagarin ratings – Florida Atlantic -15
“Vegas” Implied Projected Score: Florida Atlantic 43 Akron 20.5
The Game
Whoa, Nellie. Feast your eyes upon the largest point spread in bowl history.
The Owls ripped through C-USA with ease on their way to a 10-3 record and a conference championship. MEGALOCKS 9000 NICKEL DIME FUTURES CLUB members were thrilled with the 20-1 hit and will be sending Mr Kiffin a nice fruit basket as thanks for a job well done. They take on the Akron Zips who won the MAC East but got hammered by the Toledo Rockets in the MAC Championship game. Can Akron SHOCK the WORLD in this contest by just keeping it close ?
The Match-Up
FAU offense vs Akron defense
They move like a TREMENDOUS MACHINE ! That pretty much sums it up. The Owls have the #14 total offense in the FBS, the #6 rushing offense and the #9 scoring offense. They also hit a LOT of big plays when they choose to MATRICULATE in the passing game and just might be the best team in college football when it comes to executing trick plays. They have scored 30+ in their past 11 (!) games and show no signs of slowing down. Star RB Devin Singletary has a mind-boggling 29 rushing TDs (!) and has an outside shot at cracking the 2,000 yard rushing barrier (1,796) on Tuesday night. The Zips’ are ranked #98 in the FBS in total defense and #99 in stopping the run. They have been pretty good on 3rd downs (#39) and have done a good job of being pesky in the turnover margin department (+10). They will need to be +2 or better in this game to have a shot at keeping it close.
Akron offense vs FAU defense
The Zips running game has been pretty non-existent this season (#117 FBS) given the injuries sustained at RB. Freshman QB Kato Nelson has been pretty good down the stretch and led the Zips to a yuuuuuge win over Ohio AND the Bobcats are not chopped liver. The Zips averaged 20 points per game in their first nine contests and then 26/game later in the year. We give Akron a shot to make some plays in the passing game and maybe stick within the number IF they can get the defense to set them up in a few nice spots by forcing turnovers. The problem ? The FAU defense has been sneaky good in the 2nd half of the campaign and have not allowed 30 points in a game since Oct 14 (!). Their past two ? 12 and 17.
Motivation / Intangibles
Florida Atlantic – Mixed bag. They are playing at home in familiar surroundings and have reeled off nine consecutive wins. But they face a struggling MAC team after winning the conference championship ? And they are the biggest favorite in college bowl history. Then to flip it around yet again, they have not played in a bowl game since 2008, so they should be geeked up just a bit.
Grade – Average.
Akron – They have nothing to lose. You have to feel like going to Boca Raton for your bowl game cannot in any way “suck”. Maybe you focus more on the “surroundings” than the game plan ? Hard to say. They lost the MAC title game but it was not realistic to expect a conference crown back in August. Get out the disrespect card, yo.
Grade – Very good.
MEGA BOWL BITES
FAU is a DOCUMENTED 2-0 in bowl games with wins over C Michigan in the 2008 Motor City Bowl and Memphis in the 2007 New Orleans Bowl…..Akron has only played in two bowl games in school history….Their last taste of SWEET BOWL ACTION was in 2015 when they beat Utah St in the Idaho Potato Bowl and THAT was the first bowl win in school history.
Summary
This is just a ton of points. It’s really hard to justify laying over 3 TDs in this game. Akron is not a great team (HOT TAKE) but they did bag a nice win over Ohio late in the season and did not give up last week when they were down yuuuuuuuuuuuuge to Toledo.
Conclusion
Official play: None
Best plays on the game: Side ? Akron +22.5. Might wait for +24. Total ? Over 63.5. Would grab that now it may go to 65 by game day. No more than a small potato on each if you are craving action.