Georgia Southern Eagles vs Ohio Bobcats Odds
| Georgia Southern Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Point Spread | Over/Under | Moneyline |
-3 -115 | 48.5 -115o / -105u | -145 |
| Ohio Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Point Spread | Over/Under | Moneyline |
+3 -105 | 48.5 -115o / -105u | +120 |
Let's dive into the Georgia Southern vs. Ohio odds and make a prediction for Saturday's Myrtle Beach Bowl.
Georgia Southern and Ohio kick off bowl season on Saturday afternoon in the Myrtle Beach Bowl at Brooks Stadium in Conway, South Carolina.
The Bobcats finished their regular season by winning four of their last five games to go bowling for the second straight campaign.
Meanwhile, the Georgia Southern Eagles struggled down the stretch with four consecutive losses to end the year with a 6-6 record.
Like many other bowls, there are plenty of opt-outs to pay attention to in this one, but the absentees give us great betting value to open bowl season.
Georgia Southern Eagles
After the dominant win over Georgia State on Oct. 26, Georgia Southern was in pole position to make the Sun Belt Championship. However, that would be the last victory for the Eagles in the regular season.
Head coach Clay Helton can point to a tough conference schedule for this team. All seven of the Eagles' Sun Belt East opponents qualified for a bowl game.
Even against solid opposition, Khaleb Hood has been the Eagles’ best weapon at receiver. He's nine yards away from breaking the school’s single-season receiving record that he set last year.
Hood will need quarterback Davis Brin to have a big day for this to happen. Ironically, Brin played in this same bowl game in 2021, when he led Tulsa to a win and was named the game's MVP in the process.
Ohio Bobcats
Ohio has recorded nine regular-season wins in back-to-back seasons for the first time in school history. If the Bobcats secure the victory here, it will be the fifth time that the program has ended a season with 10 victories.
Entering this campaign, all the attention was on the strong offense and quarterback Kurtis Rourke. However, head coach Tim Albin’s team has been built on defense in 2023.
On the year, Albin’s defense has held opponents to just 15.4 points and 264.4 yards per game, which leads the Mid-American Conference and sits fourth in the country in both stats.
Linebacker Bryce Houston is one of the leaders on this defense. He ranks among the top 20 in FBS in total tackles (119) and will need to fly to the ball here for the Bobcats to win.
Georgia Southern vs Ohio
Matchup Analysis
Toggle the dropdowns below to hide or show how Georgia Southern and Ohio match up statistically:
Georgia Southern Offense vs. Ohio Defense
 | Offense | Defense |  Edge |
| Rush Success | 30 | 11 | |
| Line Yards | 27 | 12 | |
| Pass Success | 31 | 15 | |
| Havoc | 24 | 5 | |
| Finishing Drives | 89 | 1 | |
| Quality Drives | 12 | 14 |  |
Ohio Offense vs. Georgia Southern Defense
| Offense | Defense | Edge |
| Rush Success | 53 | 91 | |
| Line Yards | 78 | 83 | |
| Pass Success | 19 | 80 | |
| Havoc | 55 | 16 | |
| Finishing Drives | 96 | 123 | |
| Quality Drives | 28 | 76 | |
Pace of Play / Other
| | |
| PFF Tackling | 53 | 83 |
| PFF Coverage | 72 | 71 |
| Special Teams SP+ | 56 | 132 |
| Middle 8 | 41 | 73 |
| Seconds per Play | 25.5 (35) | 29.9 (118) |
| Rush Rate | 40.0% (130) | 54.5% (55) |
Georgia Southern vs Ohio
Betting Pick & Prediction
There are multiple key opt-outs for Ohio in this bowl game, and if you haven’t already, bookmark Stuckey’s tracker to keep up with all of these throughout bowl season.
The Bobcats have their starting quarterback, top wide receiver and top two running backs on the depth chart in the portal. This doesn’t include a former starting receiver and the former backup quarterback both having season-ending injuries during the year.
Even with these players, this wasn’t a great offense. The Bobcats rank 78th in Line Yards and 96th in Finishing Drives while also ranking outside the top 110 in tempo.
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Consequently, my best bet is to fade the Ohio offense by taking the team total to fall under 22.5 points at FanDuel, which I would bet to 21.
I also like to look at how teams have performed away from home before betting on their bowl games. On the road this year, Ohio failed to clear this total in four of its six games.
In the opener against San Diego State, the Ohio offense showed how inept it can look without Rourke. The star quarterback was knocked out of the game in the second quarter, and the Bobcats could muster only 10 points against a weak Aztecs team.
Now add in the fact that Ohio will start a third-string quarterback with all of his weapons out, and I just don’t see many points for the Bobcats here.
Pick: Ohio Team Total Under 22.5 (Play to 21)
