TULSA-5
The rested Golden Hurricane of Tulsa are ready and they will pull away and win this game by double digits tonight. I look for Tulsa to early on stuff the Southern Miss running game, then sell out and come like gang-busters at so-so Southern Miss passer Jeremy Young (Eagles 95th in the nation in passing offense). Southern Miss got very little done through the air last week against a week Central Florida secondary and I will watch Tulsa (seventh in the nation in pass defense) make big plays in the secondary tonight. In their 34-17 win at Southern Miss a year ago, the Golden Hurricane picked off four passes.
The bread-and-butter of the Southern Miss attack, though, is running the football. I expect Tulsa will stack the box early and slow down Southern Miss back Damion Fletcher. He runs low and hard, but there is little quality depth behind him after a pair of veteran tailbacks quit the team earlier. Tulsa, which gives up a modest 274 yards of offense per game, has enough defensive strength to contain this bland Southern Miss attack.
Southern Miss has a decent defense, but it's not over-powering. Last week, Central Florida, which has a putrid running game, ran for 135 yards against the Eagles. That's the same number Tulsa averages per contest and this is a Tulsa offense that averages 417 yards of total offense per game. Tulsa, which is feeling very confident after a 24-23 upset win at Navy 10 days ago, can and will successfully move the football and score points tonight.
Tulsa has covered seven straight versus teams with winning records and five of six following its most recent six straight-up wins. They have solid trends at home and as a chalk and they're the more rested team tonight. This could be a preview of the conference title game and the defending C-USA champion Golden Hurricane will be sky high to make a statement on national TV. Tulsa dominates the second half and pulls away for the double digit win and cover.
The rested Golden Hurricane of Tulsa are ready and they will pull away and win this game by double digits tonight. I look for Tulsa to early on stuff the Southern Miss running game, then sell out and come like gang-busters at so-so Southern Miss passer Jeremy Young (Eagles 95th in the nation in passing offense). Southern Miss got very little done through the air last week against a week Central Florida secondary and I will watch Tulsa (seventh in the nation in pass defense) make big plays in the secondary tonight. In their 34-17 win at Southern Miss a year ago, the Golden Hurricane picked off four passes.
The bread-and-butter of the Southern Miss attack, though, is running the football. I expect Tulsa will stack the box early and slow down Southern Miss back Damion Fletcher. He runs low and hard, but there is little quality depth behind him after a pair of veteran tailbacks quit the team earlier. Tulsa, which gives up a modest 274 yards of offense per game, has enough defensive strength to contain this bland Southern Miss attack.
Southern Miss has a decent defense, but it's not over-powering. Last week, Central Florida, which has a putrid running game, ran for 135 yards against the Eagles. That's the same number Tulsa averages per contest and this is a Tulsa offense that averages 417 yards of total offense per game. Tulsa, which is feeling very confident after a 24-23 upset win at Navy 10 days ago, can and will successfully move the football and score points tonight.
Tulsa has covered seven straight versus teams with winning records and five of six following its most recent six straight-up wins. They have solid trends at home and as a chalk and they're the more rested team tonight. This could be a preview of the conference title game and the defending C-USA champion Golden Hurricane will be sky high to make a statement on national TV. Tulsa dominates the second half and pulls away for the double digit win and cover.
