Jacksonville State Gamecocks vs Sam Houston State Bearkats Prediction, Picks and Game Preview - 09/28/2023

Game Time: 8:00 pm ET, Thursday, September 28, 2023

Venue:  Elliott T. Bowers Stadium, Huntsville, TX

Where to Watch:  ESPNU

DraftKings:  Point Spread:  JSU -6.5, SHSU +6.5; Over/Under:  36.5 points

Bet365:  Point Spread:  JSU -6.5, SHSU +6.5; Over/Under:  36.5 points

BetMGM:  Point Spread:  JSU -6.5, SHSU +6.5; Over/Under:  36.5 points

Jacksonville State Gamecocks:  3-1 (1-0) (2nd place, C-USA)

Sam Houston State Bearkats:  0-3 (0-0) (9th place, C-USA)

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Jacksonville State Gamecocks:  won their last game at home against the Eastern Michigan Eagles 21-0.

Sam Houston State Bearkats:  lost their last game on the road against the Houston Cougars 38-7.

Jax State is entering this game with a 3-1 record overall and they have a 1-0 record in their conference games too. They are 3-0 in their home games, 0-1 in their road games, and they are also 0-0 in their neutral site games this season, but they will be on the road for this game. They won their last game against Eastern Michigan 21-0. Logan Smothers was the starting QB and he completed 9/19 passes for 93 passing yards, 1 touchdown, and 0 interceptions. Malik Jackson led the team in rushing yards with 127. Quinton Lane led the receivers with 60 receiving yards on 3 receptions and 1 TD. Marco Baker and Fred Perry each led the defense in that game with 4 solo tackles and 1 assisted tackle while Chris Hardie led the defense in sacks with 1.5. Quae Drake, Jabari Mack, and Larry Worth each came away with 1 interception for them in that game.

 

 

 

Sam Houston State is entering this game with a 0-3 record overall and they have a 0-0 record in their conference games too. They are 0-0 in their home games, 0-2 in their road games, and they are also 0-1 in their neutral site games this season, but they will be at home for this game. They lost their last game against Houston 38-7. Grant Gunnell was the starting QB and he completed 14/22 passes for 100 passing yards, 0 touchdowns, and 1 interception. Tobias Weaver led the team in rushing yards with 18. John Gentry led the receivers with 32 receiving yards on 5 receptions. Trevor Williams led the defense in that game with 8 solo tackles and 3 assisted tackles while no one on the defense recorded a sack in that one. No one on the defense came away with an interception in that game.

The current betting odds have Jacksonville State listed as a 6.5 point favorite in this game according to Draftkings Sportsbook. Jacksonville State hasn't looked great on offense in their games this season but they are 3-1 this year and already have a conference win under their belt. Their defense has also looked really good in their games as they just shut out an opponent last week. Sam Houston State is also in their 1st season as an FBS team just like Jax State but Sam Houston State has been having a terrible start to the year as they are 0-3. Their defense has also looked good in their games but they have barely put any points on the board in their 3 games as they have no offense. They are only going to struggle more against this good defense and the Jacksonville State offense's ability to move the ball and put up points will be the difference in this game. The best way to place a bet here is on Jacksonville State to cover the spread in this game.

Jacksonville State Sam Houston State Prediction:  Our NCAAF Pick for Thursday, September 28, 2023 (8:00 pm ET start time) is JSU 20 SHSU 7.

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Jacksonville State Gamecocks: 3-1 ATS in all games. 5-1 ATS after a game where they committed 1 or less turnovers. 3-1 ATS after 1 or more consecutive wins against the spread. 6-1 UNDER in all games. 8-2 UNDER in September games. 5-0 UNDER after a game where they committed 1 or less turnovers.

Sam Houston State Bearkats: 0-3 ATS after playing 2 straight non-conference games. 0-2 ATS off 1 or more straight overs. 3-1 UNDER in all games. 3-1 UNDER as an underdog. 

Jacksonville State Gamecocks:  A. Lewis (RB) Ques Thurs - Undisclosed. R. Wiggins (RB) Mid Nov - Chest. P. Wells (WR) Early Oct - Undisclosed.

Sam Houston State Bearkats:  Z. Hrbacek (RB) Doub Thurs - Leg. I. Adeyi (WR) Ques Thurs - Undisclosed. Q. Humphreys (WR) Out indefinitely - Foot.

“I thought we got some sacks today, and we actually missed a couple. I’m always worried because we’re not a big, if you looked at them coming off the bus and us coming off the bus you’d be like oh my god. … But we're pretty athletic, particularly on defense.” - Rich Rodriguez after his team’s win against EMU in their last game.

“It felt good to finally put something together, get some points on the board and give some confidence to the offense. I think at times we did a good job of getting the ball out of our hand quick, but there was times where we struggled with (Houston’s) talent up front.” - K.C. Keeler after his team’s loss against Houston in their last game. 

WR Lane, Quinton 

WR Pettway, Michael 

WR Galban, Sterling 

TE Brown, Sean 

QB Webb, Zion 

RB Wiggins, Ron 

WR Adeyi, Ife 

WR Smith, Noah 

TE Sherrard, Jax 

TE Sohn, Elijah 

QB Shoemaker, Keegan 

RB Hrbacek, Zach 

Passing: L. Smothers (277)

Rushing: M. Jackson (376)

Receiving: Q. Lane (140)

Touchdowns: L. Smothers (4)

Passing: K. Shoemaker (191)

Rushing: Z. Hrbacek (43)

Receiving: I. Adeyi (74)

Touchdowns: T. Pannell (1)

Coaches:

Jacksonville State Gamecocks: Rich Rodriguez (2nd season)

Sam Houston State Bearkats: K.C. Keeler (9th season)