The Georgia Southern Eagles (+16) are heading north to take on the Minnesota Golden Gophers at TCF Bank Stadium. Kickoff for this matchup is set for 3:30 p.m. ET and BTN is scheduled to televise the action.
Betting Preview: Georgia Southern Eagles at Minnesota Golden Gophers
In this Saturday game, Minnesota is tabbed as the heavy favorite and the team’s currently giving up 16 points. In order to take the home favorite, moneyline gamblers would currently need to wager $1,000 to win $100 back on the Gophers (-1000). The Eagles are getting +625 moneyline odds. If one side can create a bunch of points early on it’ll create a solid betting opportunity in-game. Vegas has determined the over/under (O/U) to be 48 points.
This game’s opening line was -16, while the over/under hasn’t changed since it opened at 48.
The Eagles are 0-1-1 against the spread (ATS) and have gained 1.0 unit so far. The team has posted an Over-Under record of 1-1.
The Golden Gophers are up 2.0 units this season. The team is 0-1-1 ATS and also has an O/U record of 1-1.
The Eagles have gone 1-1 straight up (SU) in 2019 while the Golden Gophers are 2-0 SU.
The Eagles enter after a 26-18 victory over Maine last week where Justin Tomlin completed only four passes on 9 attempts for 63 yards. Logan Wright (114 yards on 15 rush attempts) and J.D. King (41 yards on 13 carries) propelled the ground attack while Malik Murray (two receptions, 13 yards) and Khaleb Hood (one catch, five yards) handled the receiving duties in the win.
Minnesota just earned a 38-35 win over Fresno State. The team’s defensive secondary allowed the Bulldogs to air it out for 288 yards and three touchdowns. Ronnie Rivers had a productive showing in the defeat for Fresno State, accounting for 76 rushing yards on 15 attempts, along with 48 yards and two touchdowns on five catches. For Minnesota, Tanner Morgan completed 16-of-23 passes for 234 yards and two touchdowns. Rodney Smith (61 yards on 22 rush attempts, one TD) and Mohamed Ibrahim (88 yards on 17 carries, one TD) handled the running game as Rashod Bateman (seven receptions, 105 yards, one TD) and Tyler Johnson (four catches, 71 yards) led the pass-catching attack in the win.
Georgia Southern has run the ball on 82 percent of its offensive possessions this year while Minnesota has an overall rush percentage of 69.6 percent. The Eagles have run for 234.5 yards per game and have two scores on the ground this year. The Gophers are totaling 139 rush yards per game and have five total rushing TDs.
If the results so far this season are any indication, then it appears the Eagles should hold an advantage in terms of effectiveness in the ground game, as their backfield has generated 5.2 yards per carry while the defense is allowing 3.2 YPC to opponents. The Golden Gophers have rushed for 3.0 yards per carry and given up 3.8 YPC to opponents.
The Eagles offensive scheme has averaged 43.5 yards through the air overall and has yet to record a passing TDs so far. The Gophers have put up 205 pass yards per outing and have three total pass scores.
Defensively, Georgia Southern has allowed opponents to rush for an average of 87 yards and throw for 328.5 yards per game. The Minnesota D has allowed 240.5 yards per game to opposing passers and 115.5 yards per game on the ground. The Gophers are giving up an adjusted net yards per pass attempt (ANY/A) of just 5.95 to opponents, while the Eagles have allowed a staggering 8.52 ANY/A.
Morgan probably has the edge over Tomlin in this matchup. The Golden Gophers man under center has an adjusted net yards per pass attempt 9.33 for the year and 8.28 across his last two games while Tomlin’s ANY/A is 7.00 and 4.72 over the last two games.
Georgia Southern Eagles at Minnesota Golden Gophers NCAA Tip
SU Winner: Minnesota, ATS Winner: Minnesota, O/U: Under
Betting Trends
- The Minnesota defensive unit has sacked opposing quarterbacks five times this year. Georgia Southern has produced one sacks.
- Both offenses have lost three fumbles this year.
- The Golden Gophers have made three pass plays of 30+ yards while the Eagles have accounted for one such play.
- The Georgia Southern defense has allowed four pass plays of 40 or more yards, while Minnesota has given up zero such plays.
- The Georgia Southern offense has created eight rushing plays of 20+ yards, while Minnesota has created zero such run.
- Both defenses have allowed one rushing plays of 20+ yards. The Eagles have given up four running plays of 10+ yards while the Golden Gophers have given up eight such plays.
