Just how much have the Southern Miss Golden Eagles improved from a season ago. A look at the latest line will tell you a bunch. Southern Miss travels to Huntington for a Friday Conference USA showdown with Marshall as a 6.5-point underdog. If anything from the sportsbooks hints at the improvement, take into account that the Thundering Herd were four-touchdown favorites a season ago on the road, and covered the spread.
ODDS
Marshall opened as a 6.5 point favorite with the total at 60. Southern Miss is perfect ATS this season at 5-0 and is 6-1 ATS in its last seven road games. The betting public took notice and wagered the line down to -5. The Golden Eagles would like to avenge last season’s disaster when they were embarrassed at home 63-17, and that was after they took a 14-0 first quarter lead. The total dipped to 58.5.
KEY MISMATCH
Southern Miss has already won as many games as it did last season and quarterback Nick Mullens is a huge part of that. He’s completed 124 of 188 passes for 1,691 yards, with 14 touchdowns and just three interceptions. Mullens had a career-high 447 passing yards in a 36-28 loss at Nebraska and was 27 of 36 for 325 yards and four touchdowns in the Golden Eagles win over North Texas last Saturday. The junior is second in C-USA with 388.2 passing yards per game. As a team, Southern Miss leads C-USA in total offense at 514.2 yards per game and is second in scoring at 40.2 points. Marshall is coming off an impressive defensive performance after holding Old Dominion to 117 yards through three quarters with another 168 coming during fourth quarter garbage time after the Herd had built a 27-0 lead. But ODU doesn’t have the caliber offense Southern Miss has.
KEY STAT
40.2 – Southern Mississippi’s points per game. The Golden Eagles rank 15th nationally in scoring and two games were played against Power Five Mississippi State and Nebraska. Marshall allows 19.0 points per game.
BETTING ANGLE
Sure it’s still early in the season, but there is a lot of talk surrounding the Southern Miss program again. Even coach Todd Monken didn’t do a whole lot of critiquing after last week’s 49-14 win over North Texas, which moved the Golden Eagles to 3-2 on the year, matching the team’s win total from the previous season. They played so well that there are rumblings of Southern Miss getting invited to a bowl game this season. After the past three seasons with records of 0-12, 1-11 and 3-9, that’s something not heard around Hattiesburg since 2011 when Larry Fedora led the team to a Hawai’i Bowl victory. Monken is trying to temper the excitement saying, “We have three wins.” Of course it takes six to become bowl eligible, but a victory at Marshall moves them one step closer to bowl eligibility and to becoming the team Monken wants.
ANALYSIS AND PREDICTION
We’ll see just how far the Golden eagles have come under Monken in their game against Marshall. In a conference where big arms and brilliant numbers occur frequently, Mullens sticks out like a sore thumb. The kid is having a big year and the stats haven’t been padded with a cupcake schedule. He threw for 311 yards against an SEC defense and nearly led the Golden Eagles to an upset road win at Nebraska. But Marshall is still the class of C-USA and the Herd isn’t ready to give that up to the upstart Golden Eagles. Marshall has the second-ranked total defense and leads the conference in scoring defense. They’ll present a big problem for Mullens and the Golden Eagles’ offense. And playing at home has been a boost for Marshall where they are 18-2 SU in their last 20. This sets up as being a close one and a possible preview of the C-USA title game, but the Herd will prevail.
Marshall 37, Southern Miss 34
The college football lines for this contest were first released by BookMaker and the Thundering Herd were positioned as 6.5-point favorites with a total of 60. Gamble on the game between every commercial break with BookMaker’s live betting feature. Along with an adjusted in-game moneyline, you can wager on what will happen on the next play or how many points will be scored in the next quarter. Live betting is the most exciting way to play!
Access live betting lines from your mobile device or tablet at BookMaker Sportsbook! You can wager on sporting events as they unfold on television with BookMaker’s live betting platform. Real-time spreads, totals, props and moneyline odds are all available by clicking here so start betting with BookMaker today! The Southern Miss Golden Eagles and Marshall Thundering Herd square off on Friday, October 9, 2015, at 7 p.m. ET at Edwards Stadium. The matchup will be televised live on the CBS Sports Network.
