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New Orleans Bowl Odds: Southern Mississippi vs. Troy Football Picks

Written December 17, 2008 by Jason Lowry

Troy Southern Miss Football

Even though Sunday is normally a day to sit back and relax while watching the NFL, those of you hardcore college football fans should be glad to know that the Troy Trojans take their 8-4 and first place finish in the Sun Belt Conference to the New Orleans Bowl to take on the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles, who sneak into the bowl picture with a 6-6 finish to the regular season. For those of you looking to do a little NCAA Football betting this weekend, the oddsmakers have Troy 4.5 point favorites over Southern Miss at Sportsbook.com

Now the Golden Eagles might of barely got into a bowl game this season, but this is a school that has now been to 7 straight bowl games and 11 in the past 12 years. The Golden Eagles will not only look to beat you with its rushing attack, but they can also throw the football as well, as they come in averaging 434.5 yards a game, which has led to the team averaging over 30 points a game. The offense is led by the play of running back Damion Fletcher who racked up 1,235 yards and 9 scores while running for 6 yards a carry. The Golden Eagles also get strong play out of the quarterback position, as Austin Davis threw for 2,852 yards with 21 touchdowns to just 8 interceptions. The Golden Eagles look like they might have a star in the making in freshman receiver DeAndre Brown, who grabbed 66 passes for 1,108 yards and 12 scores this season. Look for the Golden Eagles to go to the run early, as Troy’s pass defense is very solid.

The Golden Eagles defense didn’t help matters this season, as they gave up 369 yards to the opposing team per game, and were simply not good at all against the pass, as they gave up nearly 224 passing yards a game. Now making things look a little better is the fact that this unit created 28 turnovers this season, but this team really lacks the pressure needed to make opposing quarterbacks work, as they had just 16 sacks on the season. The star of the defense is Gerald McRath whose team leading 126 tackles and 8.5 tackles for loss led him to spot on the Conference USA All Conference First Team. This unit is going to have to step up in this one, as they can’t afford to fall behind big early. Bet Southern Mississippi Eagles + 4.5 at Sportsbook.com

Now Troy comes in with a pretty potent offense of their own, as the Trojans run for nearly 175 yards a game and another 246 through the air, and most importantly that has led to a 33.2 scoring average for this unit. The ground game is led by the play of DuJuan Harris, as the tailback ran for over 1,000 yards with 11 runs going for touchdowns. Harris also helped out in the receiving game, as he added another 3 scores via the pass. Now speaking of the passing attack, Levi Brown will be the signal caller in this one, and though he missed 3 games this season, Brown still racked up 1,775 yards and 14 touchdowns to just 3 interceptions. With both offenses looking poised to put up some big numbers in this one, it just might be who can get that early momentum and strike first.

Now one thing the Trojans do have going for them in this one, is they have a defense that has really played some good football this season, as they are allowing just 20.6 points a game, and we already mentioned that they are great against the pass, as they allow opponents to just 180 yards through the air. Now the defense has used the great play of the secondary and the 33 sacks it racked up over the season to record 21 interceptions, so if a big play comes from this unit, you would expect either a bone crushing hit on the quarterback for a loss, or an interception that could lead to points for the offense. Now they still have to stop the run to make the Golden Eagles pass, but you have to think Troy at least has the upper hand going into play this Sunday. Bet Troy Trojans -4.5 at Sportsbook.com

Get the best NCAA football picks and grab the latest college football odds for all the Bowl games at Betfirms.

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