Sam Houston State vs Jacksonville State Prediction Football Picks Today 10/9/25

The Jacksonville State Gamecocks and the Sam Houston Bearkats meet Thursday in college football action from Shell Energy Stadium. Here’s a Sam Houston vs Jacksonville State prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Sam Houston vs Jacksonville State pick.

Jacksonville State Gamecocks Betting Preview

Jacksonville State has five games in the bag so far this year, but they’ve been unable to maintain a winning record along the way at 2-3. The Gamecocks’ first outing was a tough loss to Central Florida 17-10 on August 28, then came the team’s first win over Liberty 34-24 in game two. Jacksonville State would lose another one-score game in their next outing, this time 41-34 versus Georgia Southern. The Gamecocks’ biggest win of the year so far was against Murray State, as they scored points in every quarter along the way to a 45-10 blowout victory. Jacksonville State racked up 329 rushing yards and 531 total yards in that one.

In their latest outing versus Southern Miss on September 27, the Gamecocks fell back into the loss column. Jacksonville State gave up points in every quarter (including 14 in both the first and third quarters) during a 42-25 loss. QB Caden Creel posted just 109 yards, one TD and two picks on 9-of-17 passing and also led the rush with 23 carries for 161 yards and a touchdown. Cam Cook added 22 carries for 77 yards with a score, also leading the receivers on four catches for 77 yards in the losing effort.

Sam Houston Bearkats Betting Preview

Over on the Bearkats’ side, they’ve similarly got five games in the books this year. Sam Houston, however, is still looking for their first win. The Bearkats kicked things off with a 41-24 loss to Western Kentucky, then fell 38-21 versus UNLV. The Hawaii game was another loss 37-20, then came a blowout 55-0 road defeat versus Texas. Sam Houston could only muster 113 yards of offense (86 passing) against the Longhorns along with 2.2 yards per play, seven first downs and a rough 2-of-14 success rate on third-down tries in the defeat.

Game five was another loss for Sam Houston, this time coming against New Mexico State on October 2. The Bearkats were down by just three points 13-10 heading into the final quarter, then gave up 24 unanswered points in a 37-10 loss. QB Hunter Watson logged 222 yards with one TD and one interception, while Alton McCaskill topped the rushers on 12 carries for 38 yards. Landan Brown caught seven balls for 53 yards and Malik Phillips had five grabs for 44 yards in the loss.

Jacksonville State Gamecocks @ Sam Houston State Bearkats Betting Trends: Week 7

Sam Houston State Bearkats Player Prop Facts

• Heading into Week 7, CJ Brown leads the Conference USA for forced fumbles (3) this season.

Jacksonville State Gamecocks Player Prop Facts

• Heading into Week 7, Cam Cook leads the Conference USA for rush attempts (111) this season.

Matchup/League Facts

• Sam Houston State has suffered the most road losses by a margin of 10+ points of any FBS team this season (4).
• Sam Houston State has suffered the most road losses by a margin of 15+ points of any FBS team this season (4).
• Jacksonville State has suffered the equal-most road losses by a margin of 10 points or less of any FBS team this season (2).
• Jacksonville State ranks 6th among FBS teams for rushing yards per game this season (261.6).

Sam Houston vs Jacksonville State Prediction

I’ll lean toward Jacksonville State but I’m probably not touching this one. There’s not a lot to get excited about here with both teams coming off losses—and only two wins in 10 games between them. The Gamecocks did well on the ground versus a mediocre Southern Miss team in their last outing, racking up 262 rush yards and an 8-of-16 rate on third downs. Trouble is, Jacksonville State gave up 225 rush yards on the other side and also coughed up a whopping four turnovers in the defeat. If there’s good news it’s that the Gamecocks have scored well recently with 34 or more points in three of the last four games.

As for Sam Houston, they weren’t doing too badly against New Mexico State until that final quarter. The Bearkats ended up going just 3-of-13 on third downs and had three turnovers (two lost fumbles) in the defeat however, sinking any chances they had at pulling off a stunner. Sam Houston has just 30 combined points over their last three games and I don’t see them scoring terribly well here either.