Bowl Slate Preview (Dec. 19)

College football’s bowl season rolls on, and we have a matchup Thursday between Georgia Southern and Sam Houston State. The New Orleans Bowl should be competitive on paper, but opt-outs could happen closer to game time, so make sure you’re tracking news throughout the day.

We will help you with all of your bowl game preparations by providing you a breakdown for each matchup with a focus on DFS as well as a betting perspective. Let’s get into it.

New Orleans Bowl

Georgia Southern vs. Sam Houston State

As of now, there aren’t any relevant opt-outs for Georgia Southern that would impact DFS, but Sam Houston State’s roster could be in flux. Head coach K.C. Keeler has taken the same job at Temple. Running backs Jay Ducker and DJ McKinney have hit the portal, and there seems to be a good chance they don’t play. Wide receiver Simeon Evans has also decided to transfer but plans to play in the game. That could change though so I will continue to stress how vigilant we all need to be.

Conventional wisdom tells us to favor GA Southern, as they’ll have their full complement of players. Quarterback JC French has thrown for 2,619 yards and 16 TDs to 7 INTs while also rushing for over 200 yards.

Their top RB is James White (655 yards), but OJ Arnold (355) will get work as well. Derwin Burgess (53-603-3), Dalen Cobb (50-557-4), Josh Dallas (41-568-5) and LV Bunkley-Shelton (28-306-0) have been the primary weapons at the receiver position.

The Eagles defense has struggled this year, ranking No. 115 in defensive success rate. The Bearkats offense has only averaged 23.2 PPG though and it’s going to be tougher to put points on the board if a big chunk of their offensive arsenal is out.

The Bearkats rank No. 33 in defensive success rate against the pass so that is certainly the strength of their team. Quarterback Hunter Watson threw for 1,598 yards and 11 TDs this year, but he is at his best when running the football. He rushed for 623 yards and 7 TDs, so he is an excellent captain option in showdown.

I don’t see an advantage with the spread on either side and will be attacking the total instead. Ultimately, I think enough of the Bearkats skill position guys play and Hunter Watson should be able to take advantage of a porous Eagles defense. On the flip side, Georgia Southern being close to full strength means they will be able to move the ball with a degree of success even if the Bearkats defense has been stout this year. The total on the board currently is around 48 and I’m comfortable riding that to 49.5-50 points.