The Georgia Southern Eagles take on the South Alabama Jaguars this week in a game that will feature the SBC’s second-leading rusher, Matt Breida (1,308 yards, 14 TDs). Coming into the game, the Eagles are 7-3 while the Jaguars are 5-5. The game kicks off Saturday, Nov 28 at 2:00 p.m. ET and will be shown on ESP3.
In last week’s matchup, Georgia Southern lost to Georgia 23-17. BJ Johnson had a good performance in the loss, pulling in one reception for 28 yards. South Alabama also fell short, losing to Georgia State 24-10. Tyreis Thomas had a quality performance running the ball for the Jaguars, rushing six times for 43 yards and one TD.
The Over/Under (O/U) for the matchup is currently not available and the Jaguars are a huge 21-point underdog.
Sitting at 7-3 Straight Up (SU) and 6-3 Against The Spread (ATS), the Eagles will look to improve heading into Week 13. In their five most recent matchups, the Eagles went 3-2 for both SU and ATS. A focal point of Georgia Southern’s offense is the run game, which ranks first in the country with 364.3 rushing yards per game. During their last five games, the Eagles have improved their pass coverage, giving up an average of 173.8 passing yards. An important aspect of the game will be if the Jaguars can fend off Georgia Southern’s ability to take the ball away. The Eagles currently rank ninth in the nation with 2.2 turnovers per game. Georgia Southern can likely capitalize on how the Jaguars are one of the worst in the country at preventing scoring in the fourth quarter, allowing an average of 12.7 points. Georgia Southern’s special teams squad is a force to be reckoned with. They average 110.5 return yards per game, 21st in Division I.
As for their opponent, the Jaguars head into Week 13 with records of 3-7 ATS and 5-5 SU. Over their last five games, the Jaguars have a SU record of 2-3 and a 1-4 record ATS for those betting with them. Georgia Southern’s front seven will be going up against the unstoppable Jaguars running game, which has averaged 190.6 yards per game over their last five, quite a bit more than their season average of 164.5. Moving on to the South Alabama defense, there are certain areas where it measures up well against the Eagles. South Alabama’s defense ranks in the top half of the nation for passing yards allowed and will look to bolster its statistics this week against the 128th-ranked passing attack of the Eagles, which only averages 62.1 yards through the air per game.
Predictions: SU Winner – Georgia Southern, ATS Winner – Georgia Southern
Notes
Ga Southern is 15-4 SU in its last 19 games.
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Ga Southern’s last 5 games.
Ga Southern is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games at home.
South Alabama is 3-2 SU when leading at the half this season. Georgia Southern is 7-0 SU when taking a lead into halftime.
Remarkably, South Alabama is winless (0-4) SU in games where it wins the turnover battle, yet 3-1 SU when losing the turnover battle.
The Georgia Southern defense has forced an average of 2.2 turnovers per game this season. South Alabama is an even 3-3 SU when turning the ball over at least 2.0 times in a game.
According to overall FBS team rankings, Georgia Southern is rated higher in the ground game on both sides of the ball. Its first-ranked rushing attack will face the 91st-ranked run defense of South Alabama, while its 35th-ranked rush defense will look to contain the 76th-ranked running game of the Jaguars.
