The Southern Miss Golden Eagles and the Texas State Bobcats are set to square off in a Sun Belt matchup at 5 p.m. ET Oct. 22 at Jim Wacker Field at Bobcat Stadium. If the matchup is anything like the Golden Eagles' 56-50 victory from their previous meeting in September of 2015, the scorekeeper will be kept real busy.
Last week, Southern Miss won a contest that couldn't have been any closer, slipping by the Arkansas State Red Wolves 20-19. Southern Miss can attribute much of their success to RB Frank Gore, Jr., who punched in one rushing touchdown.
Speaking of close games: it was close but no cigar for Texas State as they fell 17-14 to the Troy Trojans last week. The loss was just more heartbreak for Texas State, who fell 31-28 when the teams previously met last October. A silver lining for them was the play of RB Lincoln Pare, who punched in one rushing touchdown in addition to snatching one receiving TD. Near the top of the highlight reel was Layne Hatcher's 64-yard TD bomb to Pare in the third quarter.
This next game is expected to be close, with Southern Miss going off at just a 2.5-point favorite. They have failed bettors playing the spread in their past two games, so buyers beware.
The Golden Eagles are now 3-3 while the Bobcats sit at 3-4. A couple defensive numbers to keep in mind before kickoff: Southern Miss comes into the game boasting the seventh most sacks in the nation at 22. As for Texas State, they enter the contest with only six passing touchdowns allowed, good for 15th best in the nation.