As the calendar flips to November, it’s officially time for midweek MACtion. Eastern Michigan (5-3) hits the road to take on Toledo (4-4) in a matchup between two teams that are part of a five-way tie for second place in the MAC West.
Despite the similarity in records this season, Toledo has had great success in the head-to-head, winning 19 of the last 21 meetings. Will the Eagles play spoiler on the road, or will the Rockets continue their dominance in this series?
Check out our picks and predictions for the Eastern Michigan Eagles vs. the Toledo Rockets on Tuesday, November 2 to find out.
Eastern Michigan vs Toledo odds
Odds via the Covers Line, an average comprised of odds from multiple sportsbooks.
Toledo opened -8 at most books, but the line currently sits at -8.5 at the time of this writing. Use the live odds widget above to track any future line movements right up until kickoff and be sure to check out the full college football odds before placing your bets.
Eastern Michigan vs Toledo picks
Picks made on 11/01/2021 at 11:00 p.m. ET.
Click on each pick to jump to the full analysis.
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Eastern Michigan vs Toledo game info
• Location: Glass Bowl, Toledo, OH
• Date: Tuesday, November 2, 2021
• Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
• TV: ESPN 2
Eastern Michigan vs Toledo betting preview
Weather
Be sure to monitor the gametime conditions with our NCAA football weather info.
Key injuries
Eastern Michigan: None to report.
Toledo: None to report.
Find our latest NCAA football injury reports.
Betting trend to know
The Eagles are 1-8 ATS in their last nine meetings in Toledo. Find more NCAA betting trends for Eastern Michigan vs. Toledo.
Eastern Michigan vs Toledo predictions
Toledo -8.5 (-110)
These two teams appear closely matched on paper. Once you dive a little deeper into the matchup, however, it becomes apparent why Toledo is the rightful favorite in this spot.
Chris Creighton has been applauded for the stability that he’s brought to EMU since 2014, winning at least five games in each of his last five full seasons. Still, I’m hesitant to heap praise on this team after racking up three wins in a weak non-conference schedule. Wins over St. Francis, UMASS, Texas State, and Bowling Green make up four of the team's five wins — hardly a murderer’s row.
Toledo has disappointed many with a 4-4 start despite returning a wealth of talent for coach Jason Candle. That being said, this program hasn’t had a losing season since 2009 and is a perennial MAC contender. Candle has won nearly 63% of his games and this program has been a model of consistency, so a strong finish to the season is expected.
The Rockets have dominated this matchup, winning 19 of the last 21 meetings. They’ve been especially stellar at home, winning the last 10 games in Toledo. They’ve managed to be a covering machine in those spots as well, going 8-1 ATS in the last nine meetings at home.
Toledo matches up well with Eastern Michigan. The Eagles have a dangerous passing offense, but it’s one-dimensional. Toledo has shut down opposing passing offenses en route to the 13th ranked pass defense.
Offensively, Toledo should be able to run the ball against a poor EMU rushing defense ranked 101st in the country. It’s strength-on-strength when EMU is on offense, but strength-on-weakness when Toledo has the football.
Under 53.5 (-106)
Toledo’s defense has been strong all season long, holding opposing offenses to only 4.7 yards per play. While EMU quarterback Ben Bryant has been effective (69% completion percentage, 8.5 yards per attempt), he’s yet to face a secondary this tough. No team other than Notre Dame has thrown for over 235 yards against the Rockets, and that came back in Week 2.
It’s not a coincidence that Toledo has held every single FBS team they’ve faced below their season-long scoring average. This defense is for real. Edge rushers Desjuan Johnson and Jamal Hines lead the charge — they’ve combined for 54 tackles for loss and 15 sacks in their career.
While the Rockets should find success running the ball, that should only help drain the clock. They don’t play at a particularly high tempo, as they’ve snapped the ball less than 70 times in a game on five separate occasions this year. The Under has been trendy for Toledo, going 6-2.
No Toledo game against FBS competition has gone over 53.5 combined points so far this season other than the aforementioned Notre Dame.
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