The South Alabama Jaguars will face the Eastern Michigan Eagles in the 2023 68 Ventures Bowl on Saturday, December 23^rd, in Mobile, Alabama at Hancock Stadium with kickoff scheduled for 7:00 PM ET on Saturday evening and will air on ESPN.

 

South Alabama didn’t live up to the expectations they had this season as they were projected to compete for a spot in the Sun Belt Championship game, however, they finished with a record of 6-6 and 2^nd place in the West Division of the Sun Belt Conference while winning two of their last three games, however, they ended the regular season with a 44-52 loss on the road against the Texas State Bobcats in the season finale. 

 

The defense for the Jaguars was one of the better scoring defenses in college football as they allowed an average of 21.92 points per game which was below the national average of 25.76 points per game while the offense was one of the better scoring offenses in the conference as they averaged 30.92 points per game while the passing offense was also above-average as they enter this game averaging 249.5 passing yards per game.

 

Carter Bradley led the team in passing as he enters this game having completed 221 of 326 attempts for 2,660 yards with 19 touchdowns and seven interceptions while Caullin Lacy was the main beneficiary of the passing offense as he led the team in receiving with 91 receptions for 1,316 yards and seven touchdowns, however, Lacy will not be playing in this game as he entered the transfer portal shortly after the regular season ended.

 

The South Alabama Jaguars will look to end the season with a winning record for the 2^nd season in a row when they face the Eastern Michigan Eagles.

 

The Eastern Michigan Eagles finished in 3^rd place in the West Division of the MAC Conference with a record of 6-6 and ended the regular season on a two-game winning streak following a 24-11 win on the road against the Buffalo Bulls in the season finale.

 

The success Eastern Michigan had this season can be attributed to their scoring defense as they enter this game allowing an average of 24 points per game while the offense was one of the lowest-scoring offenses in the nation as they enter this game averaging 20.33 points per game which is the 19^th lowest average in the nation. The Eagles will look to extend their winning streak to three games and finish the season with a winning record for the 3^rd consecutive season when they face the South Alabama Jaguars in the 68 Ventures Bowl.

 

BookMaker has the South Alabama Jaguars listed as 15-point favorites against the Eastern Michigan Eagles on Saturday evening in the 68 Ventures Bowl. This will be the first time in the history of these two programs that they will face each other in college football. The South Alabama Jaguars are 4-8 ATS overall and 3-5 ATS as a favorite this season while the Eastern Michigan Eagles are 6-5-1 ATS overall and 4-3 ATS as an underdog.

 

It’s unusual to see a college team playing in their home stadium while actually being considered the visiting team, however, that is the case in this bowl game as the South Alabama Jaguars will be playing at home in this matchup against the Eastern Michigan Eagles.

 

However, the Jaguars struggled to cover the spread this season as they are 4-8 ATS overall and 3-5 ATS as a favorite while the Eastern Michigan Eagles are 6-5-1 ATS overall and 4-3 ATS as an underdog.

 

This game may be a rocking chair affair after EMU lost their QB to the portal and the Jaguars not only won 10 games, they were very talented and have already defeated a Power Five team earlier in the season.