Golden Eagles @ Cardinals Pick in Beef O Bradys Bowl St. Petersburg Bowl

Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles @ Louisville Cardinals Pick in Beef ‘O’ Bradys Bowl St. Petersburg Bowl: A Little history here, and I hold very little respect for history in terms of single games, but Southern Mississippi has an 18-9-1 overall record against the Louisville Cardinals in 29 games. But, and there’s almost always a “but” when you’re talking history, the Cardinals have won 4 straight over the Golden Eagles. That includes a close one last year when the Cardinals won by a pair in comeback victory. Oh, sweet history, in which directions will you wave your ugly flag?

Like I said, history doesn’t matter and this is a bowl game between two teams that had all but nothing to do with any history. So let’s talk about why I’m taking the Eagles.

First, the Cardinals came into their final game of the season needing a win to go Bowling. They had lost two straight tough games (21-24 to South Florida and 10-17 to West Virginia) but Rutgers didn’t stand a chance, even at home. Louisville won that one 40-13. The Cardinals were 3-4 over their second half of the season, losing 3 Big East home games. They didn’t really play that poorly though, just lost close games to other solid teams. They don’t throw the ball much, depending more on their 32nd ranked rushing attack and their stout defense. The Cardinals rank 10th in the Nation in total defense, 9th against the pass.

But Southern Miss can really do everything offensively. They Rank 31st in passing yards and 21st in rushing yards. That is good enough for a 15th ranking in total offense. Three guys have 7 or more rushing touchdowns for the Eagles and 5 guys have rushed for at least 228 yards. 6 players have 200+ yards of receiving and 6 guys also have 20 or more catches. The scary think is, they’ve been even more impressive lately. Austin Davis really seems to be running the offense well, and the Eagles have scored 41 points or more in 7 of their last 8 games, 50+ in each of their last two. Larry Fedora is one heck of a coach, and he really has his guys spread it around.

The Final nod goes to Southern Mississippi because I think they end up scoring more than the Cardinals can follow. The Cardinals scored over 28 just once in the last 7 games. I don’t think their gas-pedal goes down far enough to stick with SMU with a month of preparation.

Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles (+3) @ Louisville Cardinals