The Florida State Seminoles have now broken the record for most consecutive seasons with a bowl appearance. FSU’s win over Louisiana-Monroe on December 2 gave it the magical sixth win it needed to get into bowl season and now the Seminoles have been bowling for 36 straight seasons. Now, another potential record is in their sights. FSU has posted a winning record in 40 straight years. The Seminoles need a win over the Southern Miss Golden Eagles to get to 7-6 and extend that streak.
Watch the Independence Bowl live on Wednesday, December 27, 2017, at 1:30 p.m. ET at Independence Stadium in Shreveport, Louisiana. This game will be broadcast on ESPN.
College Football Opening Odds at BookMaker.eu
Florida State -15.5
Southern Miss +15.5
Over/Under 49
Odds Analysis
Florida State is one of just two double-digit favorites this bowl season. That’s despite FSU being the worst team to bet on in the country prior to the final three weeks of the season. The Seminoles were 0-7-2 ATS through their first nine games, but came on strong and won and covered each of their last three to make it to 6-6. Following the injury to Deondre Francois, FSU had real trouble moving the ball on offense and the under was 8-3-1 in Seminoles games this year.
Southern Miss had a successful season. The Golden Eagles finished tied atop the Conference USA West and were a live dog against both Kentucky and Tennessee. However, the best team that they beat all season was 7-5 Marshall and they lost by two scores at home to both North Texas and UAB. Still, they finished the season 8-4 ATS.
Coaching Angle
Even though FSU made a big splash when it hired Willie Taggart from Oregon following Jimbo Fisher’s departure, Taggart will not be coaching the team in the Independence Bowl. Instead, long-time assistant Odell Haggins will coach the team.
Haggins has been involved with the Seminoles for more than two decades and was the natural choice to be the team’s interim coach once Fisher left. The team responded well to him last week in the win against Louisiana-Monroe and he is pretty much a lock to stay on Taggart’s staff.
However, he has been hitting the recruiting trail hard, along with the team’s other assistant coaches, and FSU might not be fully preparing for this game like it needs to.
Key Stats
The Golden Eagles have a solid defense and this unit has been well-balanced. Southern Miss ranks in the top 30 in the nation in terms of run defense and pass defense and that has keyed the team’s success this year.
According to Bill Connelly’s metrics, this team has been mostly great at stopping the run, but has allowed some big plays that have killed it. Florida State is a big play offense, and running backs Cam Akers and Jacques Patrick are capable of taking any run to the house. Southern Miss must prevent the big plays if it is going to pull off the big upset.
This season, the Golden Eagles have lost the field position battle and that has kept them from really capitalizing on their defensive successes.
Free ATS Pick
Motivation is a big thing to keep in mind for bowl games, but while FSU’s fans are very concerned with the school’s streaks the players might not be. It’s hard to get excited about going to northern Louisiana and with a new coaching staff in town, the attention won’t be totally on the team’s play.
Southern Miss is a good team and should not be this much of an underdog. FSU won’t have its best defensive player in Derwin James and the Golden Eagles could have some success through the air. Getting more than two touchdowns is an early Christmas gift here.
College Football Odds: Florida State 27, Southern Miss 21
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