Vanderbilt Miami Spread, Line & College Football Predictions
August 28, 2008
The Vanderbilt Commodores will kick off their season Thursday, August 28th at 7:30 PM EST when they head to Yager Stadium in Oxford, Ohio to take on the Miami-Ohio RedHawks. Vanderbilt is looking to get their season off on the right foot and break their streak of losing seasons that dates back to 1982. The strange thing about their opponent in the opener is that Miami-Ohio was the last team Vandy beat in 2007, giving them a 6-3 record after the 21-17 victory. However, things went south from there as the Commodores lost four straight games and finished outside of the bowl picture once again. Miami-Ohio is also coming off a 6-7 season in which they missed out on the post-season, and they have expectations of bigger things this year. The odds makers at Bookmaker have started Miami-Ohio out as a 4-point favorite against the spread.
Vanderbilt was far from prolific on offense last year, and with the loss of star receiver Earl Bennett and the return of only three starters things are likely to be bad again this year. At quarterback there are two unproven options in MacKenzi Adams and Chris Nickson, but neither was impressive in stints last season. There isn’t a reliable receiving threat now that Bennett is gone, and Jeff Jennings is the top returning runner with only 346 yards a year ago.
The Commodore defense is another story however, with a strong secondary in place including junior DJ Moore, who was an All-SEC First-Team member as a sophomore. The front seven though is more inexperienced as there is only one returning linebacker in Brandon Bryant, and he only had 30 tackles last season. Steven Stone and Broderick Stewart will form a solid front on the ends, but the tackle spot is a question mark. If you want to bet on Vanderbilt against Miami take the +4 line at JustBet.
Miami-Ohio doesn’t have a real solid starter at quarterback either, with Daniel Raudabaugh not proving himself last year and a redshirt freshman in Clay Belton that has almost stolen the job from him. The team does have a bright spot at receiver where Eugene Harris and Dustin Wood are two threats catching passes. Both of these guys had 40+ catches a year ago. Last year the running game was bad, and now the team is left with it’s 4th stringer in Thomas Merriweather. He had 143 yards a year ago, but he should be able to do better than that with a bulk of the carries and three starters coming back on the offensive line.
With nine familiar faces on defense, the RedHawks should be better on defense than they were in 2007. All three linebackers are back and there were the top three in tackles a year ago. The front line is also experienced with three starters returning. Safeties Robbie Wilson and Jordan Gafford will help lead a secondary that is also returning three starters. Bet on Miami at -4 at BetUS.
Prediction:
Vanderbilt 18
Miami-Ohio 22
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