The Southern Miss Golden Eagles battle the North Texas Mean Green this week in a game that will feature the country’s fifth-leading passer, Nick Mullens (1,366 yards, 10 TDs). Coming into the game, the Golden Eagles are 2-2 while the Mean Green are 0-3. The game kicks off Saturday, Oct 3 at 7:00 p.m. ET and will be shown on FCS.
In last week’s matchup, Southern Miss lost to Nebraska 36-28. Nick Mullens had a huge game through the air in the loss, connecting on 26 of 41 pass attempts for 447 yards and two TDs. Casey Martin had a great game as well, adding 102 receiving yards and two TDs on eight catches. North Texas also fell short, losing big against Iowa 62-16. Chris Loving had a quality performance for the Mean Green, pulling in three receptions for 37 yards and one TD.
Southern Miss is a 13-point favorite against the Mean Green.
While the Golden Eagles are 2-2 Straight Up (SU), they’ve managed to put up an unbeaten record Against The Spread (ATS) of 4-0 this year. A focal point of Southern Miss’s offense is its passing game, which ranks 14th in the country with 341.5 passing yards per game. Crossing over to the defensive side of the ball, the Golden Eagles look to have a distinct advantage in certain spots. If the Golden Eagles want to win this game, they could try to strip North Texas’s players of the football. The Mean Green are one of the worst teams when it comes to fumbles lost with 1.7 per game. Southern Miss can likely capitalize on how the Mean Green are one of the worst in the country at preventing scoring in the fourth quarter, allowing an average of 11.7 points. Special teams is a weakness for North Texas that the Golden Eagles may use to their advantage. On average, the Mean Green have allowed 129.7 return yards per game.
In the other locker room, the Mean Green have shown flaws all year and are 0-3 SU and ATS.
Predictions: SU Winner – Southern Miss, ATS Winner – Southern Miss
Notes
Southern Miss is 2-7 SU in its last 9 games.
Southern Miss is 6-16 ATS in its last 22 games at home.
Southern Miss is 3-16 SU in its last 19 games at home.
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Southern Miss’s last 6 games at home.
The total has gone OVER in 6 of North Texas’s last 7 games on the road.
North Texas is 0-1 SU when leading at the start of the 4th quarter this season. Southern Miss is 2-0 SU when leading after three quarters.
The Southern Miss rushing attack is ranked 85th nationally, while the North Texas run defense is only ranked 112th. The Mean Green running game is ranked 88th, compared to the 104th-ranked rush defense of the Golden Eagles.
