Central Michigan Chippewas vs Tulsa Golden Hurricane Point Spread Picks

MIAMI BEACH BOWL - Central Michigan is led by senior quarterback Cooper Rush, who has completed 61.1 percent of his passes for 3,299 yards and 23 touchdowns this season. Rush has thrown for 12,653 yards in his career and needs 253 to become the all-time Mid-American Conference leader, and he has 90 career touchdown passes, which is fifth-most in conference history. Devon Spalding has rushed for 737 yards on 5.6 yards per carry and Jahray Hayes has carried 140 times for 468 yards. Corey Willis leads the receiving corps with 69 catches for 1,028 yards and nine touchdowns. Central Michigan comes off a tough loss at Eastern Michigan as the Eagles scored on a 24-yard pass with 21 seconds remaining. Rush completed 21-of-35 for 256 yards and Spalding ran for 85 yards with three touchdowns on 11 carries. The Chippewas are #44 in the country in yards allowed (376.2 per game) and #68 in scoring defense (28.2 points per game). Tulsa is #81, allowing 432.4 yards per game and #91 in points allowed (31.5 per game). Tulsa features senior quarterback Dane Evans, who has thrown for 3,044 yards while completing 58.2 percent of his passes with 27 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. James Flanders and D'Angelo Brewer have rushed for 1,529 and 1,330 yards, respectively, and Keevan Lucas has 1,108 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns. The Golden Hurricane had to go to overtime as a 23-point favorite to beat Cincinnati 40-37 in the season finale as the Bearcats racked up 534 total yards. The Tulsa defense will find a similar challenge in stopping Rush and the Chippewas have enough talent on both sides of the ball to keep this one close. Tulsa has gone OVER in eight of its last 10 games this season and 35 of its last 52 overall. Play Central Michigan and the OVER.