The R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl taking place in, you guessed it, New Orleans, gives us a solid matchup between 5-4 Louisiana Tech and 7-5 Georgia Southern. LA Tech is playing for their 7th straight bowl victory, while GA Southern looks to give head coach, Chad Lunsford a winning bowl record in their third straight appearance.
How They Got Here: Lousiana Tech
The Bulldogs, out of Conference USA, come into this game off a massive loss to TCU. Not only did they lose the game, but they lost starting QB Luke Anthony to an injury in the latter stages of the contest. The team started off strong at 2-0 before meeting the buzzsaw that was BYU. After the BYU game, they then split their next six games, giving them their 5-4 record.
As I said before, the offense will be without their starting QB, which is bad news for a team that is struggling on the offensive side of the ball. They rank 113th in yards per game, but they average nearly 30 points per game. They don’t run the ball very well, only averaging 2.8 yards per carry. This doesn’t bode well for a squad that will badly need to put up points with its backup quarterback, Aaron Allen.
Their defense isn’t much better. Outside of their games against TCU and BYU the Bulldog defense played better, but it was inconsistent. They give up 425 yards and 34.5 points per game. They rank pretty similar in terms of rush and pass defense and don’t generate much pass rush. They’ll need to step it up in this game if they want a shot to win.
How They Got Here: Georgia Southern
The Eagles had a similar start to LA Tech. They started out 2-1 with that loss being to 19th ranked Louisiana. GA Southern, then went on to win against UMASS, but lose to the Sun Belt Champion Chanticleers of Coastal Carolina. They finished the year 1-3 in their last four with those losses being to Army, Georgia State, and App State. Each game was within one score, though. Like the Bulldogs, the Eagles will likely be without starting QB, Shai Werts due to a shoulder injury that kept him sidelined their last two games, and definitely be without backup QB, Justin Tomlin. That means third-string QB Miller Mosley will get the start.
The Eagles triple-option offense is better in terms of yardage with 364.8 per game than the Bulldogs, but only score 26.3 points per game. It’s no secret they’re a run-heavy team, averaging 264 yards on the ground on 49 carries compared to 102 yards through the air with 13.5 dropbacks per game. Their attempts per game is on par with the service academies, which if you know about them, all they do is run. The rushing attack is lead by the two-headed monster of JD King (625 yards & 5 TDs) and Logan Wright (576 yards & 4 TDs). Whether or not Shai Werts plays will be huge as he leads the team in rushing with 638 yards and eight touchdowns.
The defense of this team is it’s calling card. They rank 19th in the country in yards per game against and only give up 22.3 points per game. They’ll need their 50th ranked pass defense to step up against the air raid that is Louisiana Tech. Leave it to Raymond Johnson III to take care of that. The senior DE has been a menace on the d-line, racking up five sacks and one forced fumble for the stout Eagles D. He’ll need to have a big game.
Betting and Predictions
Once again, the spread and point totals are provided by our friends over at BUSR Sportbook. Head over to their website BUSR – Sportsbook Home (betusracing.ag) for all your gambling needs.
Georgia Southern is a 6.5 point favorite over LA Tech. I like Georgia Southern here. While they may be without both their starting and backup quarterbacks, their offensive system masks that. On the other hand, Louisiana Tech will be with a backup too. The only difference is that Allen didn’t get many snaps after Anothony got hurt. I think the Eagles defense is suffocating and holds Tech under 24 points at least. The over/under sits 48.5. This one is a tough pick, but I’m going to take the under. Both teams will likely play conservative-ish, which leads me to believe that the overall score will be lower.