Georgia Southern vs Old Dominion Prediction, Pick & Betting Line (Oct. 24)

• Old Dominion (3-4) hosts Georgia Southern (5-2) at Ballard Stadium in a battle of top Sun Belt teams. 
• With a win, Georgia Southern will be bowl-eligible for a third straight season under Clay Helton 
• Check out our Old Dominion vs Georgia Southern prediction, best lines and things to watch

Thursday night football is a new thing at Old Dominion.

The Monarchs (3-4; 4-3 ATS) will host their first Thursday night football game when they meet the Sun Belt-leading Georgia Southern (5-2; 5-1-1 ATS) at 7 p.m. with the broadcast on ESPN2.

Both of Georgia Southern’s losses are to Top 25 teams: Ole Miss and Boise State. The Panthers are 3-0 in the conference.

Old Dominion vs Georgia Southern odds

Odds as of 4 p.m. ET October 23 at Caesars Sportsbook. Be sure to check out the top Caesars Sportsbook promos before making a bet on any Week 9 CFB matchup.

There’s been some interesting movement on the line for this game. Georgia Southern has one of the best against-the-spread records in all of the Football Bowl Subdivision at 5-1-1. Both teams are 5-5 in their last 10 games against the spread. Both teams are 3-4 over/under this season.

Old Dominion has been underdogs each of their last five games, but are anywhere from 2.5-point to 1.5-point favorites Thursday night. However, Old Dominion is 0-7 against the spread as favorites since joining the Sun Belt last year.

The best moneyline bet is at DraftKings, where you can get Georgia Southern for +110 and Old Dominion for -130.

Marshall led this game 23-3 with 7 minutes left

Georgia Southern WINS it 24-23 pic.twitter.com/ows0YMXhJL

— Unnecessary Roughness (@UnnecRoughness) October 13, 2024

Fromm Here to There

Georgia Southern has had a crazy season already. They led Boise State by a point in the fourth quarter before getting run over by Heisman candidate Ashton Jeanty late.

Then, against Marshall, the Panthers trailed 23-3 but rallied with a safety and three touchdowns in the final 10 minutes to triumph 24-23.

The Panthers offense is led by Memphis transfer JC French, who has thrown for 1,531 yards and 10 touchdowns. One of his targets is sixth-year tight end Tyler Fromm, yes, the younger brother of Jake Fromm who played quarterback at Georgia.

Panthers linebacker Marques Watson-Trent leads the Sun Belt with 69 tackles.

At the half, Old Dominion shutting out Texas State with a 14-0 lead.

Colton Joseph doing everything he can to keep hold of the starting quarterback job. 115 total yards and a pair of rushing touchdowns so far. @WTKR3 @ODUFootball pic.twitter.com/P8MqDydgzw

— Zach Staton (@ZStatonSports) October 19, 2024

Old Habits Die Hard

Last year, Old Dominion edged Georgia Southern 25-24 with a last-second touchdown run by quarterback Grant Wilson. Wilson injured his wrist a month ago and has been replaced in the line-up by redshirt freshman Colton Joseph.

The Monarchs don’t have much of a passing attack, but Joseph can run. He put up 111 yards on the ground in last week’s win over Texas State. He’s the team’s second-leading rusher with 343 yards and a team-high five touchdowns.

Old Dominion is 3-6 all-time in non-Saturday games. They boast the best red zone defense in the Sun Belt. Teams have reached the Monarchs’ red zone 26 times this season and only scored 19.

Old Dominion vs Georgia Southern Prediction

• Georgia Southern +2.5 at DraftKings
• Under 54.5 at BetMGM

Our sportsbooks see this one as an even game, giving Old Dominion the standard three points for being at home. We see this as a case where Georgia Southern only has two losses, both to very strong programs, while Old Dominion hasn’t faced the same tough schedule.

Thursday night football can be won on emotion though, and there should be a big crowd supporting the Monarchs. But their limited offense may be their undoing. Joseph has been good through three games. This will be his fourth start, but the Georgia Southern defense is better than its stats would indicate. Those numbers are blown out of whack by the losses to Ole Miss and Boise State. In the three conference games, Georgia Southern is allowing less than 20 points.

Even on a short week, we like the Panthers confidence coming on the road and see them winning by a touchdown with the under hitting comfortably.