How and what to watch for Eastern Michigan vs. Kent State

The MAC season gets started on Wednesday night when the Kent State Golden Flashes take on the Eastern Michigan Eagles at home.

Kent State is coming off a season in which it finished 7-6 overall including 5-3 in the conference, which placed the Golden Flashes in a tie for second in the MAC East in 2019. Kent State finished its season with a 51-41 victory in the Frisco Bowl over Utah State. The team will be led by senior quarterback Dustin Crum, who could be a MAC Player of the Year candidate with his ability to move the ball with his arm and his legs as a dual-threat quarterback for the Golden Flashes. Kent State finished in the middle of several major offensive statistics among the MAC teams, and it will likely improve by season’s end, while its defense better improve drastically after finishing 11th in the conference in total defense in 2019.

Eastern Michigan will enter the 2020 season coming off a 6-7 overall record and a 3-5 conference record that placed the Eagles in a tie for last place in the MAC West division alongside Toledo. The season ended with a 34-30 loss to Pitt in the Quick Lane Bowl. Eastern Michigan will need to replace last year’s starting quarterback Mike Glass III, who finished last season with 3,597 total yards and 32 touchdowns. Preston Hutchinson won the starting spot and will be with the team’s top two receivers Dylan Drummond and Quian Williams.

Kent State won five of the last six games in this series, including a 34-26 road win in 2019.

Game Time/TV Channel/Streaming

You can watch Eastern Michigan vs. Kent State on Wednesday, November 4th at 6:00 p.m. ET on ESPN+, or you can stream it via the ESPN app with a cable or streaming service login.

Point Spread, Totals, Odds, Trends

Point spread: Eastern Michigan vs. Kent State (-6)
Point Total: 65
Money line: Eastern Michigan (+170) Kent State (-215)

• Kent State is 5-0 against the spread in its last five games against Eastern Michigan.
• Kent State is 5-0 against the spread in its last five games.
• The point total went over in five of Eastern Michigan’s last six games.
• Eastern Michigan is 3-6 straight up in its last nine games.

Betting splits

Eastern Michigan: (43% of handle, 33% percent of bets)
Kent State: (57% of handle, 67% percent of bets)

The Best Bet

Kent State should have a large advantage at the quarterback position, and Crum should make the difference in the season opener in this game as a runner and passer. Hutchinson saw a decent amount of snaps last season as the backup quarterback, but the Golden Flashes should have the edge on offense. It will be up to the Kent State defense to limit Eastern Michigan, and I think it will come to play in Game 1 with its top three tacklers returning from last season.

Pick: Kent State -6.5

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