The James Madison Dukes take on the Georgia Southern Eagles. Check out our college football odds series for our James Madison Georgia Southern pick.
The James Madison football team has made quite an entrance this season. Playing in its first year as a Football Bowl Subdivision school after years as an FCS powerhouse, James Madison has started the season 5-0. Some of the wins have come against markedly inferior opponents, but a few of the Dukes' wins have been impressive. Middle Tennessee blew out the Miami Hurricanes in Miami earlier this season. James Madison crushed Middle Tennessee in its season opener. James Madison has also beaten Appalachian State, the same team which won on the road at Texas A&M. JMU also defeated a Texas State team which beat App State earlier this season. JMU crushed the Bobcats. The Sun Belt Conference has had a great start to the season, with App State, South Alabama, JMU, and other teams making early-season statements. The fact that James Madison is in its first year as an FBS program and is already competing well in a Group of Five conference which is enjoying a lot of prosperity says plenty about the way this program is coming together. With each new week, James Madison is proving that it is no fluke, and that it belongs in the FBS (formerly known as Division I).
Georgia Southern is coached by Clay Helton, who used to coach at USC but was fired 13 months ago and eventually replaced by Lincoln Riley. Helton has scored a notable victory in 2022 in his first season at Georgia Southern. He went into Lincoln and beat the Nebraska Cornhuskers, a result so weighty and significant that Nebraska fired Scott Frost after the game. Georgia Southern has been very competitive this season, nearly beating a very good Coastal Carolina team which might be the class of the Sun Belt Conference. The Eagles also lost to a good UAB team. If there's one game which got away from this team in the first half of the 2022 season, it's last week's game versus the Georgia State Panthers. Scoring 33 points and losing (41-33) leaves a bitter taste in any coach's mouth. Georgia Southern quarterback Kyle Vantrease threw four interceptions, so it's not as though the Eagles endured a defensive collapse. They were simply way too inconsistent on offense in what was a winnable game. Vantrease has to protect the ball a lot better, and it's hard to emphasize any other game keys when a team commits five turnovers as Georgia Southern did against Georgia State.
Here are the James Madison-Georgia Southern NCAA Football Odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
College Football Odds: James Madison-Georgia Southern Odds
James Madison Dukes: -12.5 (-112)
Georgia Southern Eagles: +12.5 (-108)
Over: 66.5 (-112)
Under: 66.5 (-108)
Why James Madison Could Cover the Spread
The Dukes are playing great football, and they're going against an inconsistent opposing quarterback who is likely to hand them at least one turnover if not two. The margins for error for Georgia Southern are small, and it's unlikely the Eagles will play the crisp, efficient game they need.
Why Georgia Southern Could Cover the Spread
If James Madison is loving life right now, the Dukes need to realize that they are going to get everyone's best shot. They are a target. They are the team everyone else on their schedule wants to beat. Georgia Southern is going to play with a lot of passion and energy. The Eagles don't need to win this game to cover. Losing by 10 would be good enough, and they're going to play well enough to do that.
Final James Madison-Georgia Southern Prediction & Pick
Georgia Southern won't throw four interceptions for the second straight week, but James Madison just needs one or two takeaways to punish the Eagles and win comfortably.
Final James Madison-Georgia Southern Prediction & Pick: James Madison -12.5
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