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Game Info: August 29, 2024 8:00PM ET @ Huntington Bank Stadium Both teams have had…
Game Info: August 31, 2024 12:00PM ET @ Acrisure Stadium
Pittsburgh faces Kent State on August 31, 2024, at Acrisure Stadium, with the Panthers heavily favored. Kent State is struggling, having lost their last 5 games, while Pittsburgh has also faced challenges, winning only 1 of their last 5 matchups.
Betting Odds and Info
These are the latest odds as of writing:
Moneyline: Kent State +1150 , Pittsburgh -2400
Spread: Kent State +24 , Pittsburgh -24
Over/Under: 55.5
Team Recent Performance
Kent State Golden Flashes
Kent State has had a rough go of it lately as they have lost 5 games in a row. The closest game was a defeat in which they lost 27-37 to Northern Illinois University (NIU). In that match, they were able to cover their +20.5 point spread and also over the 45 points total which had been set for that match. Unfortunately, they did not maintain any momentum during the other four matchups that followed afterwards, facing severe defeats against Ball State (3-34); Bowling Green (19-49); Akron (27-31) and Buffalo (6-24). They have not covered spread in each of these instances. In terms of over/under, 2 of their games exceeded expected points totals while the remaining 3 stayed below showing inconsistency in both offense and defense during this period.
Pittsburgh Panthers
Pittsburgh has been having trouble lately, as they’ve only won one in their last five games. They managed to defeat Boston College 24-16 as a -2 favorite, thus managing to cover the spread and hit the under. However, they faced difficulties in their other matches going down 19-30 against Duke, 13-28 Syracuse, 7-24 to Florida State and then finally 7 -58 lost by Notre Dame. In those losses, only once did they cover the spread in a game against Florida state. Of these five contests three went over whereas two stayed under the originally anticipatable total points over which they were looked upon.
Team Head-to-Head Matchup
Compared to Kent State’s 0-4, Pittsburgh heads into the match with a huge advantage at 4-0. While both teams have recorded two wins each against the spread (ATS), neither team has had an established over/under (O/U). As far as offense is concerned, Pittsburgh scores more points than Kent State; they average 38.75 points per game whereas Kent State manages to score only 11.75. On run plays, Pittsburgh dominates with 247.75 rushing yards per game against Kent State’s only 102.25 yards per game on running plays. In terms of passing yards though, these two teams seem to be quite similar in terms of the number of pass attempts they’ve made — Kent State has slightly less at 30.50 attempts while Pittsburgh records slightly more at 30.75 attempts – but here again it is evident that Pittsburgh is ahead of Kent State since it has a passing yardage of 232.25 while the latter can only boast 152.50 passing yards per match. The overall total yards gained by Pittsburgh surpasses that of Kent State by over double at 480 compared to 254.75 respectively. Pittsburgh is also defensively better than Kent State by allowing only 0.75 turnovers per game while Kent State manages 1.75 turnovers every match played.
Team Injuries
Kent State Golden Flashes
Due to a knee injury, the running back Gavin Garcia will not be able to play for the remainder of the season.
Pittsburgh Panthers
There are no reported injuries.
SPORTBOOK.AG’s Prediction
Pittsburgh will win this match against a weaker Kent State. The Panthers are expected to cover the point spread by a wide margin.
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