There’s nothing like a little Sun Belt betting action to start the college football week off right and that’s what we get when the South Alabama Jaguars visit the Georgia Southern Eagles.
The Jaguars are undefeated in conference play, but it’s the Eagles who, despite their 1-2 SU/ATS record against Sun Belt opponents, are the betting favorites in this matchup, laying 5.5 points at home.
Let’s take a look at our best college football predictions for South Alabama at Georgia Southern, with kickoff scheduled for Thursday, October 29 at 7:30 ET.
South Alabama Jaguars at Georgia Southern Eagles betting preview
Weather
It will be a cloudy night in Statesboro, Georgia and there will be a small chance of rain. The forecast is calling for a 15-20 percent chance of rain with temperatures in the low-80s. There will also be a 10 mph wind blowing towards the northeast corner of Allen E. Paulson Stadium. Be sure to monitor the gametime conditions with our NCAA football weather info.
Key Injuries
South Alabama: Jacob Shoemaker OL (Questionable), Jaden Voisin CB (Questionable).
Georgia Southern: Javon Jackson (Questionable), Jarrod Leeds OL (Questionable), Shai Werts QB (Questionable).
Find our latest NCAA football injury reports.
Betting trend to know
Georgia Southern is 5-0 ATS in its last five games following an ATS loss. Find more NCAA football betting trends for South Alabama vs. Georgia Southern.
Against the Spread (ATS) Pick
South Alabama comes into this one winning two in a row, having defeated Texas State 30-20 as a 4.5-point home favorite before last week’s 38-14 beatdown of UL-Monroe, easily covering the 14-point spread. Unfortunately, the Jags haven’t played too many good teams this season so it’s hard to get a real read on them.
Texas State, UL-Monroe and Southern Miss are a combined 2-16 this season, and South Alabama was beaten soundly by one of the better teams in the conference in UAB.
On the other side, Georgia Southern is coming off a tough 28-14 loss to still-undefeated Coastal Carolina last week, where the game was tied midway through the fourth quarter. The Eagles other loss was a near upset of conference powerhouse Louisiana, falling 20-18 in a game where they were 11.5-point road underdogs.
In that loss to the Chanticleers, the Eagles were outrushed in a game for the first time since last November, so expect them to try and re-establish their dominance on the ground. Georgia Southern averages nearly 250 rush yards per game, and in South Alabama’s two losses they have given up 396 rushing yards.
This is also the Jags’ first road game since September 3, so getting the Eagles at less than a touchdown seems like the right play.
PREDICTION: Georgia Southern -5.5 (-110)
Over/Under Pick
Desmond Trotter seems to have taken control of the ongoing QB battle at South Alabama. The sophomore is completing nearly 67 percent of his passes for 744 yards with six touchdowns and two interceptions, to go along with an impressive 10 yards per attempt.
But the problem for Trotter, and the Jags offense, is that while they’ve been pretty good at moving the football through the air, they have trouble punching it across the goal line, ranking 65th in the country in scoring at 26.8 points per contest.
Now, they’ll face a Georgia Southern team that allows 238.6 passing yards per game but limits opponents to a paltry 56.2 completion percentage and tightens up in its own end, allowing just 20.8 points per game this season.
With the Eagles obviously putting an emphasis on the run, they should drain the clock in this one as the game sneaks below the number.
PREDICTION: Under 49.5 (-110)
First-quarter spread pick
In both of South Alabama’s losses to UAB and Tulane, it struggled on offense in the early going, failing to put a single point on the board in the first quarter of either game. We could see more of that come Thursday when the Jags go up against an Eagles defense that has allowed just 2.5 first-quarter points per game against FBS opponents this season.
Meanwhile, Georgia Southern has scored 28 first-quarter points over its last three games. Take the Eagles to have a lead after the opening frame.
PREDICTION: Georgia Southern first-quarter -2.5 (-110)
South Alabama vs Georgia Southern betting card
- Georgia Southern -5.5 (-110)
- Under 49.5 (-110)
- Georgia Southern first-quarter -2.5 (-110)
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