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Georgia Southern vs New Mexico State: How to Watch and Preview

Georgia Southern goes on the road to play fellow new Sun Belt member New Mexico State in Las Cruces. How will the Eagles fare in this tough road test?

Todd Bennett

What: Georgia Southern (3-2, 2-0) at New Mexico State (2-3, 1-0)

Where: Aggie Memorial Stadium. Las Cruces, NM

When: 8pm EST

How to Watch: ESPN3, and Fox Sports South depending on your geographical locations.

How to Listen: NMSU folksGaSouthern folks.

Live Stats: Can be found on NMSU's website.

Odds: Currently in Georgia Southern's favor from -19 to -20. Georgia Southern is undefeated against the spread so far this football season.

Preview:

Georgia Southern will travel out west to New Mexico for the first time in the team's history and one of the rare times Georgia Southern has travelled west of the Mississippi River. While altitude may be considered a factor by some, it will not be much greater than the altitude in Boone, N.C.

This game will feature one of the Sun Belt's worst rushing defenses in NMSU against the league - and the nation's - leading rushing attack from Georgia Southern. New Mexico State's offense isn't bad. They're middle of the pack in the nation statistics-wise, but Georgia Southern has a deceptively good defense, at 26th in the nation for points allowed.

I do not really know a whole lot about New Mexico State, but the Aggies' Sun Belt victory came against bottom-dweller Georgia State in a very close game. While their quarterback ran for 100+ yards against LSU, 80 of it was on one long touchdown run. Georgia Southern has a very stout defensive line that should be able to stifle NMSU's rushing game while putting pressure on the QB.

On the other side of the ball, Georgia Southern's rushing attack has been slowed down by no one, this season. The Eagles are running through opponents, and the Aggies' rushing defense is suspect at best. I don't see NMSU being able to hold Breida, Ellison, Ramsby, & Company in check for four quarters. The Eagles will score points. The one X-factor is that this will be the third option team in some form that NMSU has seen this year, including one very similar to Georgia Southern's version that is run by former Willie Fritz assistant Bob DeBesse with the New Mexico Lobos.

My Prediction? I  think the main issue for this game will be how well Georgia Southern's defense contains NMSU. As long as the turnover bug doesn't strike the Eagles, Georgia Southern once again covers the spread, but in a manner similar to last week. It will be a late score that puts the Eagles over the hump. The game will be hard fought, but the final results will never really be in doubt. If the turnover bug hits, then it's anyone's ball game.

I think the Eagles pull this one off to the tune of 38-17.