LA Tech at Georgia Southern: 12/23/20 College Football Picks and Prediction
Photo by Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports
Georgia Southern Eagles (7-5) vs LA Tech Bulldogs (4-4)
Game Info: Wednesday, December 23, 2020 at 3:00 pm (Mercedes-Benz Superdome)
Betting Odds: Georgia Southern Eagles -5 -- Over/Under: 53.5 Click Here for the Latest Odds
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The Louisiana Tech Bulldogs and Georgia Southern Eagles will square off at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome this upcoming Wednesday afternoon in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl.
The Louisiana Tech Bulldogs finished their regular season with an overall record of 5-4 and finished 3rd in C-USA West play with a 4-2 conference record. It was an interesting season for the Bulldogs as they started off the year with an 4-3 record, including a solid 37-34 win against UAB, however, than had the entire month of November off due to Covid-19 before finishing off the season with a 42-31 win over North Texas and a 52-10 loss to the TCU Horned Frogs. This will be the 7th straight bowl appearance for Skip Holtz and the Bulldogs have won six straight bowl games after defeating the Miami Hurricanes by a 14-0 margin in last year’s Independence Bowl.
On the season, Louisiana Tech is averaging 29.3 ppg on 325.1 total yards per game (277.4 passing yds/g; 97.7 rushing yds/g). Offensively, Louisiana Tech has been led by QB Luke Anthony who has completed 62.4% of his passes for 1,479 yards, 16 TD, & 5 INT. The top receiving threats for Anthony and the Bulldogs have been Adrian Hardy (33 rec, 440 yards, 4 TD), Smoke Harris (35 rec, 285 yards, 4 TD), Griffin Herbert (19 rec, 275 yards, 3 TD), and Cee Jay Powell (31 rec, 252 yards).
Defensively, Louisiana Tech is allowing their opponents to average 34.3 ppg on 425.0 total yards per game (240.4 passing yds/g; 184.6 rushing yds/g).
The Georgia Southern Eagles finished their regular season with an overall record of 7-5 while finishing t-3rd in the Sun Belt – East with a 4-4 conference record. Georgia Southern had a strong start to their season, winning six of their first eight games which included a competitive 20-18 loss at Louisiana, however, the Eagles did struggle down the stretch, losing three of their last four games including a 34-26 loss at home against Appalachian State in their regular season finale. This will be the 3rd straight Bowl appearance for Georgia Southern as the Eagles defeated the Eastern Michigan Eagles in the 2018 Camellia Bowl while losing to the Liberty Flames in the New Orleans Bowl last season.
On the season, Georgia Southern is averaging 26.3 ppg on 364.8 total yards per game (102.3 passing yds/g; 262.5 rushing yds/g). Offensively, Georgia Southern has been led by QB Shai Werts who had completed 60.3% of his passes for 936 yards, 7 TD, & 6 INT. Werts is also the leading rusher for the Eagles with 649 yards & 8 TD on 131 carries. In the backfield for Georgia Southern has been the trio of J.D. King (116 att, 625 yards, 5 TD), Logan Wright (88 att, 565 yards, 4 TD), and Wesley Kennedy III (66 att, 447 yards, 6 TD). The top receiving threats for the Eagles have been Malik Murray (20 rec, 258 yards, TD) and Khaleb Hood (14 rec, 159 yards, TD).
Defensively, Georgia Southern is holding their opponents to an average of 22.3 ppg on 333.5 total yards per game (221.4 passing yds/g; 112.1 rushing yds/g).
The Bulldogs are 7-1 ATS in their last 8 Bowls games, however, are just 2-5 ATS in their last 7 games overall. The Eagles are 5-0 ATS vs. a team with a winning record and 5-2 ATS in their last 7 games overall.
Louisiana Tech has been lights out in Bowl games over the past six years, however, this just not as strong as a Louisiana Tech team that we’ve seen in previous years and the Bulldogs looked particularly bad on both ends of the ball in their last game against TCU. Georgia Southern is a solid football team with a rushing attack that should have success against the Bulldogs 88th ranked rushing defense and as I think the Eagles defense will give Luke Anthony and Louisiana Tech some trouble, I’m taking Georgia Southern to cover this spread. Good Luck!
Brett’s Pick Georgia Southern Eagles -5
AUTHOR: Brett Nault

Follow Brett Nault on Twitter @BrettCU05