Southern Miss vs South Alabama Prediction, Game Preview

Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports

By Pete Fiutak | August 31, 2020 6:16 pm

Southern Miss vs South Alabama prediction and game preview.

Southern Miss vs South Alabama Broadcast

Date: Thursday, September 3
Game Time: 9:00 ET
Venue: MM Roberts Stadium, Hattiesburg, MS
Network: CBS Sports Network

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Southern Miss (0-0) vs South Alabama (0-0) Game Preview

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Why South Alabama Will Win

– CFN 2020 South Alabama Preview

The passing game should be better, more dangerous, and more efficient after a rough year.

The Jaguars should have an okay ground game around a veteran offensive line, and the receiving corps is loaded with veterans for new offensive coordinator Kenny Edenfield to work with.

The idea is to move with pace, spread everything out, and control the temp from the start. The Southern Miss secondary is fine. It has some talented parts, but it’s coming off a rough year yardage-wise.

More than anything else, USA is going to need to win the mistake battle – it’s going to need a few breaks.

Southern Miss was a turnover disaster last season, and the veteran Jaguar defense should be able to come up with a few big plays. However …

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Why Southern Miss Will Win

– CFN 2020 Southern Miss Preview

The South Alabama defensive line will be a work in progress.

The linebackers and secondary are fine, but the solid front three of last year is starting over and it should be hammered on a bit.

Southern Miss didn’t do much of anything for the running game in 2020 – to be kind – and new OC Matt Kubik has the running backs in place to start balancing things out a bit. It’s the other side that should take over early on.

The pass rush should continue to be excellent against a South Alabama offensive front that’s going to be a bit leaky. Expect a whole lot of third down stops against an offense that’s going to need a while to improve on the issues it had last year moving the chains.

What’s Going To Happen

It’s not going to be the crispest of games.

The two teams that combined to turn the ball over a whopping 48 times last season will be more than happy screw things up from time to time. Southern Miss will overcome its mistakes, and South Alabama won’t.

Expect the Jaguars to be plucky, though. Southern Miss will have control in the third quarter, but a few late Jaguar scores will keep this from getting out of hand.