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A Sun Belt battle is on tap between the Old Dominion Monarchs and the South Alabama Jaguars at noon ET on Saturday at Hancock Whitney Stadium. South Alabama will be strutting in after a victory while Old Dominion will be stumbling in from a defeat.
The Monarchs came up short against the Appalachian State Mountaineers last week, falling 27-14. Old Dominion was down 27 to nothing at the end of the third quarter, which was just too much to recover from. WR Javon Harvey put forth a good effort for the losing side as he caught four passes for two TDs and 133 yards. Harvey had some trouble finding his footing against the James Madison Dukes two weeks ago, so this was a step in the right direction.
Meanwhile, South Alabama was able to grind out a solid win over the Southern Miss Golden Eagles last week, winning 27-20. South Alabama can attribute much of their success to RB Braylon McReynolds, who picked up 100 yards on the ground on 15 carries. McReynolds' longest run was for 64 yards in the first quarter.
The Monarchs have to know they'll be fighting an uphill battle given the 15.5-point spread they are up against. Those who got lucky with them against the spread last week might want to hold off on placing bets this time since the team has yet to string together back-to-back wins against the spread.
Old Dominion is now 3-8 while the Jaguars sit at 9-2. A pair of defensive stats to keep an eye on: Old Dominion enters the matchup with 29 sacks, good for 29th best in the nation. As for South Alabama, they rank fifth in the nation when it comes to rushing yards allowed per game, with only 88.2 on average.
