Thursday College Football Predictions & Picks – Southern Miss vs Georgia Southern

• The Southern Miss Golden Eagles are 3.5-point road favorites vs the Georgia Southern Eagles
• Southern Miss is averaging 31 points a game this season
• Read below for Southern Miss vs Georgia Southern predictions, picks and odds for Thursday night CFB

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The Southern Miss Golden Eagles (3-2, 1-0 Sun Belt) seek their fourth win in the last five games when they visit the Georgia Southern Eagles (2-3, 0-1 Sun Belt).

The current leaders of the Sun Belt Conference’s West division, Southern Miss is the road favorite in the college football odds.

Action gets underway tonight at 8pm ET from Allen E. Paulson Stadium in Statesboro, GA with ESPN2 carrying the broadcast coverage.

Southern Miss vs Georgia Southern Prediction

• Pick: Georgia Southern ML (+135 at BetMGM)

After a 10-point loss at Louisiana Tech, the Golden Eagles got back into the win column with a 42-25 win over Jacksonville State.

It’s the third time in four games they’ve put up at least 38 points, and they’re currently fourth in Sun Belt scoring at 31 points per game.

Southern Miss greases its offensive wheels mostly in the passing game, where they rank second in the conference at 249.2 yards per contest, and are also second with 11 TD passes.

Where they might be able to exploit the Eagles’ defense is if they can establish the run, as Georgia Southern has been getting run over, allowing a conference-worst 262 rush yards per game.

The Eagles had their two-game win streak snapped as they were hammered 35-10 by James Madison, the third time this season they’ve been beat by at least 25 points.

However, they are at home, and good things have only happened at Allen E Paulson, as they’ve won both games and scored better than 40 points in each.

That might be enough to settle this one: Southern Miss has lost eight straight on the road,

Braxton Powers Golden Eagles

Braylon Braxton is one of the Sun Belt’s elite quarterbacks, currently second in yards at 1,236 with a crisp 64.9 completion percentage, with 11 TD’s against three interceptions.

He’s been wildly consistent, throwing at least two TD passes in every game this season. Braxton is also throwing some run game into the attack, averaging 3.3 yards per carry and a TD.

Braxton’s got some unfinished business against Georgia Southern. As a member of the Marshall Thundering Herd, he worked in tandem with QB Stone Earle and went 9-for-12 for 92 yards a a pair of TD’s. He also added 36 yards rushing, part of a 200-yard effort on the day.

However, Georgia Southern rallied with three 4th-quarter scores to steal a 24-23 win.

Eagles Trying to Find Consistency

It was an ambitious pre-conference slate, and Georgia Southern felt the effects, getting blasted by both Fresno State and USC.

That seems to have helped them as they evened up on the competition level, topping Jacksonville State and Maine, before the setback against JMU.

GASO currently ranks outside the Top 10 in rushing, but their passing offense is currently seventh in the Sun Belt, averaging 211.8 yards per game,. That despite quarterback JC French IV only topping 200 yards passing once this season.

Southern Miss will be a challenge, as they currently are tied atop the Sun Belt with 15 sacks, and lead the conference with eight interceptions.

French’s most accurate passing games have been at home, though, including a high of 66.7% completions against JVST.

Southern Miss vs Georgia Southern Odds

Southern Miss is tabbed as a 3.5-point favorite in this one, and are a short -160 on the moneyline. Georgia Southern is +135 to win outright, and the total checks in at 59.5 points.

Odds as of October 9 at 1pm ET. Be sure to check out the best BetMGM bonus code before placing a bet on any Week 7 College Football matchup.