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After two games on the road, the Middle Tenn. Blue Raiders are heading back home. The Blue Raiders and the Southern Miss Golden Eagles will face off in a Conference USA battle at 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday at Johnny (Red) Floyd Stadium. Middle Tenn. should still be riding high after a big victory, while Southern Miss will be looking to right the ship.
After constant struggles on the road, Middle Tenn. has finally found some success away from home. They made easy work of the Connecticut Huskies last week and carried off a 44-13 win. The contest was all but wrapped up at the end of the third, by which point Middle Tenn. had established a 34-13 advantage. It was another big night for their QB Chase Cunningham, who passed for four TDs and 297 yards on 36 attempts.
Special teams collected 14 points for Middle Tenn. K Zeke Rankin delivered a perfect 3-for-3 game.
Meanwhile, a win for the Golden Eagles just wasn't in the stars two weeks ago as the team never even grasped a temporary lead. Their painful 34 to nothing loss to the UAB Blazers might stick with them for a while. Southern Miss was in a tough position by the half, with the score already sitting at 31 to nothing.
The Blue Raiders are the favorite in this one, with an expected 13.5-point margin of victory. Those who got lucky with them against the spread last Friday might want to hold off on placing bets this time since the squad has yet to string together back-to-back wins against the spread.
Middle Tenn. is now 3-4 while Southern Miss sits at 1-6. A couple defensive numbers to keep in mind before kickoff: Middle Tenn. is 218th worst in the nation in rushing touchdowns allowed, with 13 on the season. Southern Miss has experienced some struggles of their own as they are stumbling into the game with the 214th most touchdowns allowed in the nation, having given up 21 on the season. It's possible one of these Achilles' heels will wind up tripping the losing team up.
