Without looking up what is the over/under? Has to be 80+, maybe even around 90. Gonna be a high scoring game..
JMU Football:
4 Years FBS: 40-11 (.784). Highest winning percentage & least losses of all of G5 2022-2025.
Sun Belt East Champions: 2022, 2023, 2025
Sun Belt Champions: 2025
Top 25 ranked: 2022, 2023, 2025
CFP: 2025
Can Sam Houston make their third title game in five years (though it would be their first without Willie Fritz), or will Jacksonville State become the first Ohio Valley team to get there since Eastern Kentucky's run ended in the early '80s? The position battles below seem to favor SHSU a bit, but that's misleading because all their advantages except WRs are small while JSU's linebacking advantage is massive. The Bearkats best hope for a victory is either by taking advantage of careless Gamecock mistakes (like last year), or by winning in a shootout. I don't see them really slowing down a JSU attack that is averaging a crazy 619 ypg in the playoffs, including 506 rushing yards against a Charleston Southern team that hadn't even allowed 200 in any prior game. Add in the fact that SHSU is on the road, they're on a short week, and JSU is out for revenge, and this should end up being a victory for the Gamecocks.
Here's my assessment of the matchups & my pick for the game:
I don't think it'd help them in this game even if they'd be allowed to do it but one thing I noticed upon tuning in is that this crew of officials is not going to allow Sam Houston State's DBs grab and manhandle receivers. This crew is actually going to enforce the rules. I think that the crews that called the Southern Utah and McNeese games let Sam Houston State's defenders get away with a whole lot in that regard and it helped them because if they can't do that they really don't cover that well.
That was one big difference between their first and second games with McNeese. The Southland crew calling the first game didn't let Sam Houston State do that stuff and they got called a number of times. The second time they were letting Sam Houston State's DBs get away with really obvious holding and interference infractions. It was pretty clear that they were in "let 'em play" mode.
Well, I believe that I must tell the truth
And say things as they really are
But if I told the truth and nothing but the truth
Could I ever be a star? Deep Purple: No One Came