2022 Boca Raton Bowl: Liberty vs Toledo preview, how to watch, odds, more

College Football’s Bowl season continues as the Liberty Flames take on the Toledo Rockets in the RoofClaim.com Boca Raton Bowl.

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Liberty Flames (8-4) vs Toledo Rockets (8-5)

How to Watch:

Date: Tuesday, December 20th
Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
Channel: ESPN

Betting Odds:

Moneyline: LIB (+158), TOL (-190)
Spread: TOL -4.5 (-110
Over/Under: 54 (-110)

Odds courtesy of Draftkings

Matchup:

This matchup features two teams that are not coming in playing their best football.

Toledo lost their final two regular season games before righting the ship in the MAC championship game and beating Ohio to win their first conference title since 2017. Liberty started the season 8-1 and has rattled off three straight losses, including a 49-14 drubbing against New Mexico State in the regular season finale.

Another key for Liberty will be that head coach Hugh Freeze is leaving to go coach Auburn after four years at the helm of the Flames, and he will not be coaching this game. Interim head coach Josh Aldridge might also head over to Auburn as the Tigers’ next linebackers coach, so who knows what the investment level will be from Liberty on Tuesday.

Liberty will come into this game with the 59th-ranked offense in all of college football. They average 400.8 yards per game and 5.67 yards per play. However, Liberty is also tied for the fourth-most turnovers in the nation, losing 11 fumbles and throwing 15 interceptions which could be a problem against a Toledo defense that is tied for the MAC lead with 12 interceptions on the season.

Their offense is paced by Demario Douglas, who comes into this game leading all FBS Independent receivers in yards with 977 and receptions with 73. He formed a great tandem with running back Dae Dae Hunter before Hunter suffered a season-ending knee injury in November.

The challenge will be tough against Toledo, who boasts the best defense in the MAC, giving up 331.8 total yards per game and just 185.5 passing yards per game, both of which were top-15 marks in the FBS.

Toledo can match the Liberty offense since they have the 54th-ranked offense in the nation, averaging 405.8 yards per game and 5.64 yards per play. They average 32 points per game but have only scored over 30 once in their last six games.

Quarterback DeQuan Finn suffered an ankle injury near the end of the regular season, but he played in the MAC championship and is a huge piece of the puzzle for the Rockets, with 30 total touchdowns on the season, 22 through the air and eight on the ground.

However, Toledo will also have a stiff test against Liberty, which has 23 takeaways on the year (14 INTs, nine fumble recoveries) and ranks among the top 20 in the nation. They also have an FBS-high 9.1 tackles for a loss per game and 41 sacks, which is tied for third, so they will be in the backfield often.

As a result, it means that the UNDER could be a popular bet for this game.