The Liberty Flames and the Georgia Southern Eagles are all set to duke it out at the Cure Bowl this coming Saturday. Both teams are relatively new schools in the FBS, but each is determined to make a mark. Going into the game, the sportsbook favors Georgia Southern by 5-points. Read on for more about this matchup.
Hugh Freeze is doing nice things as head coach of the Flames, as evidenced by the fact that he’s he’s maneuvered the program to its first bowl game. There are reasons why Freeze is paid as much as he is earning (he is the best-paid non-power five head coach), and this upcoming appearance at the Cure Bowl is one. The Flames can light it up on offense with their high-octane passing attack. The Flames are 26th in the nation with 281.6 passing yards per game. Flames starting quarterback Stephen Calvert has a solid arm that got him 3,393 passing yards and 26 touchdowns against just five interceptions this season. He’s got a talented cast of receivers led by Antonio Gandy-Golden, who enters Saturday’s game with 1,333 receiving yards and nine touchdowns on 74 receptions.
The Flames are 6-5 against the spread (ATS) in their last 10 games. In their last game, they defeated the New Mexico State Aggies at home, 49-28, as 15-point favorites.
Betting on the Georgia Southern Eagles (7-5 Overall / 5-3 Conference)
Georgia Southern got rocked by the LSU Tigers in its first outing this season, losing to Joe Burrow and company in Baton Rouge back in September, 55-3. But the Eagles got a signature game of their own weeks later when they took down no. 20 Appalachian State Mountaineers on the road, 24-21. The Eagles eat quite a lot of time to develop anything significant on offense, as they usually rely on their running game on that side of the ball. The Eagles are fourth in the nation with a 79.0 rushing play percentage, so it’s not quite surprising why none of their quarterbacks have thrown an interception and why they have three players with at least 676 rushing yards. Running back JD King has 776 rushing yards and eight touchdowns on the season, while running back Wesley Kennedy has 760 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns. Dual-threat QB Shai Werts has nine passing touchdowns and five rushing.
