NCAA College Football – Virginia at Southern Mississippi
Virginia Cavaliers (0-2 SU, 0-1 ATS) at Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles (2-0 SU, 0-1 ATS)
Saturday, September 19 – 3:30 PM ET
BetUS NCAA College Football Sportsbook Odds: SOUTHERN MISS -17, Total 44
Here are some of the NCAA college football sportsbook trends as they relate to this matchup:
Looking for the NCAA Football Handicappers Plays Online??? We’ve got your back —–>
VA has lost its last six games SU
VA has covered eight of its last 24 road games
VA has lost four of its last five road games SU
SMISS has won its last six games SU
SMISS has covered five of its last six games
SMISS has won its last four home games SU
SMISS has covered two of its last six home games
Virginia’s Al Groh is on the hot seat – or did we mention that last week? Groh did not have much success scoring with the football last season, so he asked his son to step down as offensive coordinator and brought in Gregg Brandon, the former Ball State coach, who installed the spread offense.
There has been a difficult period of adjustment so far, and the Virginia Cavaliers have been big losers in the college football sportsbook odds. Jameel Sewell, who sat out last year with an injury, leads this team in passing and rushing, and has not done enough of either. Swell is less than 49% accurate, with four interceptions already, and has 75 net yards on the ground. Virginia is ranked 112th nationally in total offense, 113th in passing, next to last in turnover margin and 117th in sacks allowed. 
They lost to WIlliam & Mary, an FCS school, and were down 30-0 against TCU until scoring a couple of meaningless touchdowns with minutes remaining, which didn’t make a difference as far as college football odds were concerned. Is Groh is trouble? Well, he’s weathered eight full season previously, and while his act has more or less gotten stale with the fans, we’ll have to wait and see.
We would certainly caution about writing Virginia off too early. The Cavaliers started out badly last season, getting routed by USC, having a rough time with Richmond, and getting blasted by both U-Conn and Duke before scoring upsets over East Carolina, North Carolina and Georgia Tech, and nearly beating Miami and Virginia Tech, finally posting a 5-6 ATS record in the college football sportsbook. The difference here is that the Cavs have to deal with this new offensive setup, and for a team that ranked 114th in scoring last season, well, they just didn’t have the athletes to pull it off to begin with.
On the Southern Miss side, it’s a different story. The Golden Eagles, who brought back 18 starters from last year’s team – ten of offense and eight on defense – have a lot of talent at the skill positions. Quarterback Austin Davis had 23 TD’s and just eight interceptions last season, and hasn’t thrown a pick in two games this year. Damion Fletcher, a senior, has over 4500 career rushing yards. DeAndre Brown, the sophomore phenom at wide receiver, had over 1100 yards as a freshman and at 6’6″ and 225 pounds, he’s not just a load for any secondary to cover, but also a guy who has the kind of size and speed that is ideal for the NFL.
Southern Miss has a big trip coming up next week as they travel to play Kansas, and there may be some danger of a look-ahead, since a win there could pave the way for an undefeated season and the opportunity to make a case for the BCS.
However, they have many more functioning parts on offense, and the ability to defend the run with a veteran front foursome. Since we’ve seen no evidence that Virginia has its act together yet, we’re going to lay the points with Southern Miss, the 17-point favorite in the BetUS NCAA college football sportsbook.
OUR PLAY: SOUTHERN MISS -17 ***
