College Football Betting Preview: A look at Georgia Southern-Wofford

Football Championship Subdivision Quarterfinals
Georgia Southern Eagles at Wofford Terriers, Gibbs Stadium, Spartanburg, SC
Saturday, December 11, 2010, 2:00 pm Eastern, TV: ESPN Gameplan
Opening Line: Wofford 2
Current Line: Wofford -2
Opening Total: 43
Current Total: 42 1/2
Money Line: Wofford -130 / GSU +110

college football lines — Georgia Southern travels to Wofford in FCS Quarterfinal action. Wofford is a slight favorite at home.

The Georgia Southern Eagles travel to South Carolina to take on Southern Conference rival the 10-2 Wofford Terriers. Neither of these teams were predicted to advance this far. Georgia Southern had to play an opening round game vs South Carolina St at home. The Eagles won that game 41-16 and then played at #2 seed William & Mary. The Eagles upset the Tribe 31-15 to get to the quarterfinals. Wofford won their first round game at Jacksonville St 17-14. These two teams played at Georgia Southern October 9th. Wofford won 33-31 in a thriller. In that game Wofford jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter nut only led 14-12 at halftime. The Eagles actually took the lead in the fourth quarter 31-27. Wofford scored with 5 minutes to play but missed the extra point. The Terriers held on for the win. Both teams rushed for over 240 yards. In fact, Wofford rushed for over 300 yards in the win. The winner of this game will face Delaware in the semifinals, who beat New Hampshire 16-3 Friday night.

Georgia Southern is outscoring their opponents 29-18 on the season. They have four losses on the season by a total of 21 points to Navy, Wofford, Chattanooga, and Samford. Since the 20-13 loss at home vs Samford, the Eagles have won 5 games in a row, including an overtime win over #1 seed Appalachian St 21-14. They certainly got hot at the right time. Georgia Southern averages 356 yards of offense per game, with 269 yards rushing per game. On defense they only allow 280 yards per game, inlcuding 118 yards rushing per game. The Eagles have forced 29 turnovers on the season and have a turnover margin of +6. They have forced 24 sacks on the season and allowed 20 of their own. The offense is led by quarterback Jaybo Shaw. He has only thrown for 1,100 yards, 4 touchdowns and 4 interceptions. He is much more dangerous with his legs as he has rushed for 444 yards with 16 touchdowns on 180 carries. J.J. Wilcox is the top receiver with only 19 catches and 3 touchdown catches. Wilcox also has 6 touchdown runs on the season. However, the passing game is barely a part of the Eagles offense. The Eagles throw the ball less than 10 times a game. The Eagles have 39 rushing touchdowns on the year compared to 4 passing. The leading rusher is Robert Brown with 183 carries for 917 yards, and 6 touchdowns. Eight Eagle runners have at least one touchdown run.

Wofford has 2 losses on the season to Ohio 33-10 to start the season and at Appalachian St 43-13 last month. Wofford is outscoring their opponents 31-19 on the season. They actually throw the ball less than Georgia Southern, as they throw only 8 times a game. They average 396 yards of offense with 311 yards of that on the ground. They only allow 286 yards of offense per game, including 127 rushing yards a game. They have forced 26 turnovers and have a turnover margin of +7. They have forced 24 sacks and allowed 12 of their own. They struggle sometimes in the kicking game as they are 10 for 13 kicking field goals and 39 for 44 kicking PAT’s. The offense is led by quarterback Mitch Allen. He has over 1,200 combined rushing and passing yards, 11 touchdowns, and 3 interceptions. Brian Kass also takes some snaps and has 7 total touchdowns and 500 combined passing and rushing yards. Brenton Bersin is the leading reciever with 21 catches, 534 yards, and 8 touchdowns. Eric Breitenstein is the leading rusher with 216 carries, 1,378 yards, and 20 rushing touchdowns.

These two teams are mirror images of each other statisically. Both run the ball very well, and force lots of turnovers. Like the Air Force-Georgia Tech Independence Bowl match-up, this game will be played at a very quick pace. There probably won’t be 20 total passes in thsi game. I expect another close match-up between these two evenly matched teams. Georgia Southern must contain Breitenstein, but Wofford must contain Shaw by the same token.