Raycom Media Camellia Bowl (Montgomery, Alabama): Georgia Southern (9-3) vs. Eastern Michigan (7-5)
The Camellia Bowl pits a MAC conference opponent vs a Sun Belt foe for the fourth time. The Sun Belt owns a 2-1 lead in the series, and Georgia Southern looks to continue a two-game win streak for the conference. The game kicks off at 5:30 PM on ESPN Saturday evening.
How They Got Here: Georgia Southern
Georgia Southern was in the driver’s seat of the Sun Belt West after defeating No. 25 App State at home to improve to 7-1 overall and 5-0 in conference play. However, the Eagles dropped two straight against ULM and Troy and would end up finishing 6-2 in conference play, a game out of the conference championship. The Eagles did finish the season with blowout wins over Coastal Carolina and rival Georgia State, however, in what should be considered a highly successful season based on where they’ve been the past couple of years.
Georgia Southern gets it done with the triple-option, ranking 9th in the country with 260.8 rushing yards per game. The quarterback is the key to any triple-option attack, and Shai Werts is that guy for Georgia Southern. The sophomore ran for 829 yards and threw for only 954. Werts also did not throw a single interception on the year, but did go for 10 touchdowns. Strangely enough, kicking is also a huge part of the Eagles’ attack. Tyler Bass was a perfect 43-43 on extra points and 16-18 on field goals. His 88.9 field goal percentage was good for 6th in the nation. The Eagles will ground and pound you all day. After a very successful run as an FCS program, Georgia Southern has only appeared in one FBS bowl game before this year, defeating Bowling Green in the GoDaddy.Com Bowl in 2015.
How They Got Here: Eastern Michigan
The Eagles had a rocky 2-4 start to the 2018 campaign, but then won five of their next six games to become bowl eligible. Their biggest win of the year came in Week 2 against Big Ten opponent Purdue on the road. Eastern Michigan takes a three-game win streak into the Camellia Bowl. The Eagles don’t really blow you away on either side of the ball, but they do enough to win games. They average 27.5 points per game while allowing 22.
Senior QB Tyler Wiegers has done enough to lead the Eagles to wins, but doesn’t exactly fill the stat sheet. During their three-game win streak, Wiegers has averaged 139.3 yards passing. His favorite target Blake Banham has caught 54 passes for 714 yards and 5 touchdowns. Eastern Michigan does not have a history of winning and becoming bowl eligible, and 2016 was the last time they made a bowl game. Before 2016, 1987 was the last year the Eagles played in a bowl game. That 2016 bowl game ended in a 24-20 loss at the hands of Old Dominion.
Player to Watch: Wesley Fields (GSU)
Fields is the biggest difference maker for Georgia Southern. He led the team in rushing yards (959), receiving yards (237) and total touchdowns (10). His ability rushing and receiving gives Georgia Southern a big advantage in this bowl game. Fields is hitting his stride at the right time, rushing for 148 yards against Coastal Carolina followed by 151 yards against Georgia State. The Georgia native wants to end his college career in a big way on Saturday.
Gambling Lines
Georgia Southern opens as 2.5 point favorites. The game is more of a home game for them as they only have to travel over one state. Eastern Michigan has kept every loss close, which makes it tough to take Georgia Southern, but the one blow out loss for Eastern Michigan came at the hands of Army. They were unable to stop the triple-option attack the first time they faced it this year to the tune of 37 points allowed and a 15-point loss. Georgia Southern should be able to control the clock and the game… Take the Eagles to cover. As for the over/under, it opens at 47.5. I’d advise going over on that, as Georgia Southern has averaged 31.1 points per game despite the triple-option. If Eastern Michigan scores something like 17 points, the over will hit.
Prediction
If you couldn’t tell from the article, I’m pretty high on Georgia Southern in this matchup. The triple-option is tough to stop, and although Eastern Michigan has seen one option attack this year, they were unable to stop it. I expect that to be the same case on Saturday, with Georgia Southern virtually playing a home game. The last big-time game for Georgia Southern was a 34-14 rout of App State. Georgia Southern takes home the Camellia Bowl, 31-20.