Florida Atlantic at Southern Miss: 10/10/20 College Football Picks and Prediction

Florida Atlantic was outstanding against the run last season and looked once again strong after holding Charlotte to just 82 yards on 41 carries. The Owls will need to improve a secondary however, that did allow the 49ers to throw for 314 yards and a TD agianst them. Defensively, Florida Atlantic was led by Leighton McCarthy who had 10 tackles and 3 sacks against Charlotte.

The Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles snapped their 3-game losing streak and picked up their first win of the season (1-3; 1-1 C-USA) on the season after defeating the North Texas Mean Green, 41-31, this past Saturday. Southern Mississippi was outstanding offensively against the Mean Green defense and was able to hold on late after a 4-yard TD run by Darius Maberry gave the Golden Eagles a 34-17 lead early in the 4th quarter. Southern Mississippi was outgained by North Texas by a 483-437 margin, however, did win the turnover margin by a 3-1 margin in the victory. Leading the way for the Golden Eagles was RB Frank Gore Jr. who had 130 yards and a TD on 23 carries.

On the season, Southern Mississippi is averaging 29.0 ppg on 402.0 total yards per game (278.0 passing yds/g; 124.0 rushing yds/g). Offensively, Southern Mississippi has been led by QB Jack Abraham who has completed 64.4% of his passes for 1,112 yards, 7 TD, and 3 INT. The top receivers for Abraham and the Golden Eagles have been Jason Brownlee (17 rec, 301 yards, 3 TD), Tim Jones (14 rec, 299 yards, 2 TD), and Demarcus Jones (19 rec, 183 yards, TD). Leading the way for the Golden Eagles backfield has been Frank Gore Jr. (46 att, 208 yards, TD), Kevin Perkins (21 att, 82 yards, 2 TD), and Don Ragsdale (24 att, 81 yards, TD).

Defensively, Southern Mississippi is allowing their opponents to average 40.0 ppg on 490.5 total yards per game (265.5 passing yds/g; 225.0 rushing yds/g).

The Owls are 6-2 ATS in their last 8 games and 8-2 ATS in their last 10 Saturday games. The Golden Eagles are 1-6 ATS in their last 7 games and 1-5 ATS in their last 6 Saturday games.

Florida Atlantic had a lot of changes in the offseason and looked a bit rusty early against a good Charlotte team, however, the Owls showed in the 2nd half that is still an above average football team that should have success in C-USA play. Southern Mississippi picked up a much-needed win, however, it is hard to get behind this team with a defense that over its first four games, is allowing opponents to almost average 500 yards per game. Florida Atlantic is the better team in my opinion and although they might give up some points against the Golden Eagles passing attack, I think Nick Tronti and the Owls offense does enough to cover this spread. Good Luck!