The Jacksonville State Gamecocks and the Southern Miss Golden Eagles meet Saturday in college football action from Roberts Stadium. Here’s a Southern Miss vs Jacksonville State prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Southern Miss vs Jacksonville State pick.
Jacksonville State Betting Preview
Jacksonville State opened up their season with a matchup versus UCF. Following a scoreless first half and a 3-3 tie in the third quarter, the Gamecocks would give up a couple of touchdowns in the fourth and lost 17-10 in the end. Game two against Liberty was Jacksonville State’s first victory of the year. The Gamecocks managed to score points in all four quarters (including double-digits in two of them) on the way to a win 34-24. Unfortunately Jacksonville State couldn’t keep it going in their next outing versus Georgia Southern. The Gamecocks gave up 17 points in the first quarter alone on the way to a 41-34 loss. In that defeat Jacksonville State surrendered 219 rushing yards and 6.2 yards per play on defense.
In their latest outing versus Murray State, the Gamecocks scored points in all four quarters (including double-digits in the second and third) on the way to a nice blowout win 45-10. QB Gavin Wimsatt finished on 17-of-31 passing for 188 yards and a touchdown. Cam Cook was the leading rusher with 22 carries for 147 yards and two touchdowns, and Brock Rechsteiner topped the receivers on five catches for 89 yards and a touchdown. Caleb Coombs added five catches for 47 yards in the big victory as well.
Southern Miss Golden Eagles Betting Preview
Over on the Southern Miss side, they’ve got four games in the bag so far this year as well. The Golden Eagles opened things up with a home matchup against Mississippi State, eventually losing that one 34-17. Southern Miss got it together in game two versus Jackson State, scoring 14 points in both the first and fourth quarters for a 38-20 victory. In game three the Golden Eagles kept it rolling against Appalachian State. Southern Miss scored points in every quarter (and 14 in the fourth quarter alone) to finish off a 38-22 win. During the victory the Eagles posted 389 total yards, with 279 coming from the passing game.
Matched up against Louisiana Tech on Saturday the Golden Eagles coughed up all 30 points in the first half on the way to a 30-20 defeat. QB Braylon Braxton was 28-of-47 for 392 yards, two scores and a pick. Robert Briggs added nine carries for 47 yards, and Carl Chester caught five balls for 152 yards and a touchdown. Kyirin Heath accounted for three catches, 56 yards and a touchdown of his own.
Jacksonville State Gamecocks @ Southern Miss Golden Eagles Betting Trends: Week 5
Southern Miss Golden Eagles Player Prop Facts
- Heading into Week 5, Jeffery Pittman ranks T1st amongst qualified players for catch rate (100.0%) this season.
Jacksonville State Gamecocks Player Prop Facts
- Heading into Week 5, Cam Cook ranks 1st amongst FBS players for rushing attempts (89) this season.
Matchup/League Facts
- Southern Miss ranks T3rd among FBS teams for interceptions this season (6).
- Southern Miss ranks T132nd among FBS teams for 4th down conversion percentage this season (20.0).
- Jacksonville State ranks 8th among FBS teams for rushing yards per game this season (261.5).
- Jacksonville State ranks 125th among FBS teams for passing yards per game this season (147.8).
Southern Miss vs Jacksonville State Prediction
I’ll probably stay with Jacksonville State. Sure, much of it was likely due to facing a struggling Murray State team, but the Gamecocks looked pretty good in their win last weekend. Jacksonville State ended up with 531 yards of offense—and a whopping 329 rush yards—alongside 6.7 yards per play, 29 first downs and 7-of-14 on third-down tries. The lost fumble and the eight penalties were just about the only blemishes that stick out. On defense Jacksonville State gave up just 233 yards (141 passing), 16 first downs and 5-of-16 on third-down conversions. That gives the Gamecocks at least 34 points in three straight games.
As for Southern Miss, they couldn’t overcome a rough first half in their loss to LA Tech. the good news is that the offense generated 514 yards (392 passing), 6.3 yards per play and 29 first downs but went a tepid 7-of-19 on third- and fourth-down tries. Southern Miss has scored quite well themselves with 38 points in two of the last three outings. We could have a pretty high total here if both offenses show up.