How and what to watch for Troy vs. Georgia Southern

The Troy Trojans and the Georgia Southern Eagles will be trying to separate themselves in the Sun Belt Conference’s East division when they play on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. ET in Statesboro, GA.

The thing to watch for in this game is can the Trojans’ defense slow down Georgia Southern’s triple-option offense led by senior quarterback Shai Werts. The Eagles are one of the best teams in the nation at running the football, averaging 249 rushing yards per game.

In their 24-17 win last week against South Alabama, GSU’s rushing attack had 250 rushing yards, which included 91 yards from both Werts and senior running back Wesley Kennedy III. Kennedy also had two touchdowns on the ground. The team’s leading rusher in J.D. King had 74 yards on 15 carries and a touchdown. This season the senior running back has 564 yards on 102 yards and five touchdowns.

Troy’s defense is only giving up 135.5 rushing yards per game this season, which means something will have to give. The Trojans best bet to win Saturday might be with their passing game, as they average 319.2 passing yards and score 32.3 points per game. In their 38-10 win over Arkansas State last week, junior quarterback Jacob Free completed a career-high 73.3 percent of his passes for 419 yards and two touchdowns. Senior wide receiver Kaylon Geiger had a significant portion of Free’s yards, racking up eight receptions for 126 yards. It was the third time in four games that Geiger reached 100 yards.

Game Time/TV Channel/Streaming

You can watch Troy vs. Georgia Southern on Saturday, November 7 at 1:00 p.m. ET on ESPN3, or you can stream it via ESPN app with a cable or streaming service login.

Point Spread, Totals, Odds, Trends

Point spread: Troy vs. Georgia Southern (+3.5)
Point Total: O/U 53
Money line: Troy (-167), Georgia Southern (+135)

• Troy is 4-2 straight up in its last six games.
• The point total went under in six of Troy’s last eight games.
• Georgia Southern is 10-5 straight up in its last 15 games.
• The point total went under in seven of Georgia Southern’s last eight games.

Betting splits

Troy: (76% of handle, 61% percent of bets)
Georgia Southern: (24% of handle, 39% percent of bets)

The Best Bet

Georgia Southern has one of the best triple-option running games in the country next to the service academies. It is tough to play against, let alone game plan for because you don’t know who has the football. Troy’s defense is only giving up 135.5 rushing yards per game this season, which isn’t bad. But the Eagles are averaging an immaculate 249 rushing yards and 280 yards on the ground at home.

Pick: Georgia Southern +3.5

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