Middle Tennessee State at Miami Ohio

The Miami Ohio Redbirds were an unlikely Bowl candidate to start the season. They were coming off a disasterous 1-11 season and over their last 16 games they were bad, going just 1-15. But, this team came together to finish 9-4, winning the MAC. They come into this one having won five straight games. They have overcome a lot of adversity, and the latest is losing QB Zac Dysert to a lacerated spleen. What has emerged from the injury is the surprising play of freshman QB Justin Boucher, who is actually providing a lift to the Redbird offense. While the experienced Dysert was generating 7 yards per attempt, he had a poor TD to INT ration with 13 TDs and 12 INTs. Boucher has maintained the 7 yards per attempt, but the mistakes have gone down as he has thrown just 1 INT in 120 attempts. Middle Tennessee is expected to have a big year behind Dwight Dasher, but he missed the first four games. His numbers have been dwarfed by what he did a year ago when he threw for nearly 3,000 yards and ran for another 1,154 at 5.2 yards per carry. This year Dasher has just six TDs, 14 INTs, and has run for just 453 yards at 3.6 yards per carry. Middle Tennessee needed three wins to get here at 6-6 and those three included 1 point escapes vs. FIU and Western Kentucky - not exactly teams the caliber of Miami Ohio. The Redbirds own five road wins to just three by MTSU. Take Miami Ohio in this one.