New Orleans Bowl

Southern Missisippi Golden Eagles vs. Arkansas State
Cajun Field, Lafayette, Louisiana

Line: Southern Miss -15.5 Arkansas State

Gambling preview:

Picks:

Matt: Southern Miss -15.5

Couldn't work out the logistics to get his preview in tonight, but Matt likes Southern Miss in a rout. Hard for him to respect any squad that lost to Army by 28.

Doug: Southern Miss -15.5

I'll admit that I jumped on the North Texas bandwagon last year and picked them to cover against Southern Miss in last year's New Orleans Bowl. Something about that "Mean Green" nickname that demanded respect out of me. That respect went down the drain within five minutes after kickoff. No reason to think this year's game will be any different. Nothing short of Houston Nutt showing up on that sideline to coach Arkansas State would lead me to think this game will be remotely close.

Since Arkansas State is the only Sun Belt team we'll see all bowl season, I figure it's worth mentioning the only legitimately interesting story out of the Sun Belt Conference this year. That story would be the return of Matt Doherty to the coaching ranks at Florida Atlantic. My how the mighty have fallen. Maybe I'm underestimating the extent of that Florida Atlantic-Florida International rivalry, but I'm guessing it doesn't live up to Carolina-Duke. Doherty's one year reign at ND might warrant a future column down the road, but for now, let's just say ND fans might be peeking at those Sun Belt standings on occasion this year to check up on how the Owls are looking under Doherty (FAU is 3-3 at the moment). I'm not a Doherty hater, but I imagine there are ND fans out there who wouldn't mind seeing FAU go 3-25 this year.

Southern Miss 34 Arkansas State 7





INFO:

National Rankings

Total Offense
Southern Miss - 78th 349.36 ypg
Arkansas St - 60th 373.55 ypg

Total Defense
Southern Miss - 78th 399.73 ypg
Arkansas St - 61st 372.82 ypg

Scoring Offense
Southern Miss - T40th 29.45 ppg
Arkansas St - 67th 25 ppg

Scoring Defense
Southern Miss - 39th 23 ppg
Arkansas St - 55th 24.73 ppg

Run Offense
Southern Miss - 105th 104 ypg
Arkansas St - 23rd 199.91 ypg

Run Defense
Southern Miss - 77th 164.64 ypg
Arkansas St - 96th 186.73 ypg

Pass Offense
Southern Miss - 34th 245.36 ypg
Arkansas St - 96th 173.64 ypg

Pass Defense
Southern Miss - 78th 235.09 ypg
Arkansas St - 23rd 186.09 ypg

Turnover Margin
Southern Miss - 6th 1.18
Arkansas St - T27th 0.55

Southern Miss 6-5
at Alabama L 30-21
McNee. St W 48-20
at ECU W 33-7
Tulsa L 34-17
UCF W 52-31
at UAB W 37-28
at NC State L 21-17
at Mars. W 27-24
at Houston L 27-24
Memphis L 24-22
Tulane W 26-7

Arkansas State 6-5
at Missouri L 44-17
UT Martin W 56-7
at Okla St L 20-10
FIU W 66-24
at UL Mon L 31-27
UL Lafa W 39-36
Fla Atlantic W 3-0 OT
at MTSU L 45-7
Troy W 9-3
at Army L 38-10
at N Texas W 31-24