What To Make Of The JLab Birmingham Bowl

Georgia Southern vs. App State, 2:00 ET

It was a mixed bag of football results for me this past week, but overall it has been a successful Bowl campaign. I had an original goal to provide a bet on every Bowl Game out there, but the weekend proved to just be too much to try and, ahem, tackle. So, hopefully, you followed the plays that I did provide and that won, and ignored the plays that I provided that lost. I'm hopeful this will be another winner as Georgia Southern takes on App State in a game with significant line movement in favor of one side.

Georgia Southern enters the game with a 6-6 record for this JLab Birmingham Bowl. They finished fourth overall in the Sun Belt - East, and as you'd expect from that record, weren't overly impressive. They lost to Fresno State in their season opener, and I can somewhat understand losing, but I am not sure I agree with how bad they lost. It was a road game, but this isn't exactly a powerhouse school. Georgia Southern lost the game 42-14, which is just a poor showing. Then the next week, they did have to play a major program in USC and were once again blown out. Perhaps that helped them develop as they won the next two games. Then they lost to James Madison and Southern Miss, before taking down Georgia State. Another loss against Arkansas State popped up, and then they beat this same App State team, on the road, 25-23. They rounded out the rest of the season by sandwiching a loss against Old Dominion with wins over Coastal Carolina and Marshall. The Eagles implement a fairly balanced offense, but they've also only scored 35 touchdowns for the season, so I'm not expecting them to just crush a total here. 

Sep 6, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Georgia Southern Eagles quarterback Turner Helton (14) sets to pass in the second half against the USC Trojans at United Airlines Field at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

App State is in a Bowl Game with a 5-7 record, which I thought was not allowed, but maybe I'm just making that up. I thought it was required to get to six wins in order to make it, but regardless, they are here. As you can tell by their record, they struggled in many games, but there were some bright spots for them. They were able to beat Oregon State and Georgia State, and they also took down Marshall later in the season. They ended up sixth overall in the Sun Belt - East, and suffered losses to Southern Miss, Boise State, Coastal Carolina, Old Dominion, Georgia Southern, James Madison, and Arkansas State. There were some close games in there, but there were also a lot of blowouts. Hard to know exactly what to take away from all of that. The bigger story here is they have a ton of guys in the transfer portal. Both of their starting quarterbacks from the season are in it. As are the leading tackler over the past two seasons, most of their key defensive players, and even one of their better wide receivers. 

For what it is worth, those guys that I mentioned in the transfer portal were apparently told by their coach that they are welcome to play in the game. What I can't find, even though I'm writing this as of gameday, is who actually is in, and who is out. I am assuming that they will have at least one of those quarterbacks, and maybe their leading tackler as they said he traveled with the team. I'm not really sure how you take either side on the spread. I think if you take Georgia Southern, you're gambling that everyone is out. If you take App State, you're gambling that some key guys are playing. I think the smarter thing is to take the under for the game. If everyone is in, the defense improves. If everyone is out, the offense suffers a bit and I don't think the Eagles will score every time they touch the ball. Give me the under. 

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