Georgia Southern vs. Sam Houston State:
A bowl game in the Big Easy sounds like a good time. The Georgia Southern Eagles and Sam Houston State Bearkats will find out if that’s the case with the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl on Thursday December 19. This is the only bowl game on that day, as the Sun Belt faces off against Conference USA at the Superdome.Like so many other programs at this time of the year, Sam Houston State is a program in transition. Unlike a lot of programs, Georgia Southern is not. Will that be the difference in this game?
New Orleans Bowl: Georgia Southern Eagles (-6, 49) vs. Sam Houston State Bearkats
Thursday Dec. 19, 7 p.m. ETSam Houston State head coach K.C. Keeler led the program through its transition from FCS to FBS and had a wildly successful second season after some major bumps in Year 1. The Bearkats were just 3-9 last season and didn’t get their first win over a FBS foe until mid-November. They flipped the script this season to go 9-3 and earn their first bowl appearance in program history.
Keeler accepted the head coaching role at Temple, so he will not be there for this one, as OC Brad Cornelsen will serve as the interim head coach. He is not a candidate for the job. DC Skyler Cassity is going from Huntsville to Denton to take the same role at North Texas. Both sides of the ball for the Bearkats have a lot of players in the transfer portal, but many will play in this game before they move on.
Keeler won the FCS National Championship in 2021 and it seemed like a very amicable divorce between the program and the legendary head coach. With minimal ill will, I don’t think motivation will be a huge issue for the Bearkats, especially with so many pending transfers committing to the game.
Georgia Southern is intact, though, and a clear favorite here from a stronger conference. The Eagles are 0-2 in bowl games under Clay Helton, losing to MAC opponents twice. Last year’s 41-21 loss to Ohio in the Myrtle Beach Bowl can’t sit well with the holdovers on the roster, as the program looks for its first bowl win since 2020.
These two teams are polar opposites. Sam Houston State finished the regular season 119th in yards per play on offense, but 13th in yards per play on defense. Georgia Southern finished 121st in yards per play on defense and 99th in yards per play on offense, but the Eagles were held to 2.8 YPP by Ole Miss in a game that skewed the numbers a bit.
The Bearkat secondary will have its hands full, as Georgia Southern had three wide receivers with at least 557 yards. The running game was mediocre at best, as Jalen White had 4.4 yards per carry and OJ Arnold had 5.0 on 63 attempts, but QB JC French had 101 carries for 205 yards to lower the average. This was not a particularly good Eagles offensive line for the second straight year. Back in 2022, Georgia Southern allowed just seven sacks in 13 games. Last year’s OL allowed 34 and this year’s has allowed 26 to this point.
The SHSU offense is absolutely limited, too, as Hunter Watson had an 11/8 TD/INT ratio as a passer and wound up second on the team in rushing yards with 623 (4.1 ypc). Running back Jay Ducker is in the portal and his social media post would suggest he isn’t going to play here, which means an elevated role for DJ McKinney, who actually had 5.0 yards per carry to lead the primary rushers.
I think Sam Houston State will be plenty amped up here and the defense is truly a strong unit. Guys like Caleb Weaver and David Fisher were still on the official bowl depth chart even after announcing their intentions to transfer, so I think the boys are excited about one last ride together.
Pick: Sam Houston State +6.5
