David Brandt, a Marine, Purple Heart recipient and farmer, went viral in 2018 when he was the subject of a news story and became internet famous for the quote, “It ain’t much, but it’s honest work.” Sadly, Brandt died in 2023, but his meme lives on, and so do some of his farming techniques.
All of that is to say that these Tuesday and Wednesday night college football games won’t be pretty and won’t be much, but they will be honest work.
They won’t be big displays of talent. But they do help us get 61 straight days of CFB/NFL action, and we salute them for that.
We start with Southern Miss vs. Troy out of the Sun Belt, a standalone 5 p.m. PT game on ESPN2. It was smart of the Fun Belt and Conference USA to set up these weeknight games as ways to get the programs some TV money and a little exposure.
For us, it’s nice to have something to sweat and follow on the gridiron on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. However, most people won’t know jack squat about these teams, so hopefully that’s where we come in at VSiN and where these previews will come in handy.
Southern Miss vs. Troy (-11, 49½)
5 p.m. Tuesday PT (ESPN2)
It has not been a fun season thus far for Southern Miss and coach Blake Anderson, who was promoted from offensive coordinator when Charles Huff took the coaching job at Memphis. The Golden Eagles opened with a 49-3 win over Alcorn State but have since lost all three FBS matchups and allowed 48 points to UConn and 43 points to Auburn.
They did have a close call last week in a 24-21 loss at Tulane, but it is hard to win while allowing almost six yards per carry.
Troy is 2-2, beating Sam Houston and Alabama State to begin the season before losing the last two weeks to Missouri and Utah State. The 10-point loss to Mizzou certainly looks better after what the Tigers did last week to Florida.
The 11-point loss at Utah State is not nearly as good a look, but it was a strange travel spot to Logan, Utah, to play at elevation. The Trojans also missed two field goals, Goose Crowder threw three interceptions, and the team had a turnover on downs in plus territory.
As we look ahead to the conference opener for both teams, it should be mentioned that Troy averaged 6.3 yards per play in its lone FCS game and just 4.9 YPP in its three FBS games. Similarly, Southern Miss averaged 6.5 YPP in that Alcorn State blowout but just 5.1 YPP in the three FBS contests.
The picture is similar on the defensive side, where Troy has allowed 5.7 YPP to FBS foes and Southern Miss has surrendered 6.4.
Interestingly, Troy was just 3 for 14 on third down against Alabama State and is converting 37.8 percent of its third downs against FBS opponents, but the Trojans are still 111th overall in conversion rate. Southern Miss is 114th overall at 33.3 percent, but the Golden Eagles are at just 31 percent against FBS competition.
Defensively, Troy has been one of the better units on third down, holding opponents to just 32 percent. Southern Miss has not fared well, sitting 110th at 43.1 percent.
In looking at Troy and this double-digit spread, one major concern is that the Trojans have only gone into the red zone nine times thus far. You need scoring opportunities to cover spreads of this size. Southern Miss has 13 red-zone trips and also ranks 20th in touchdown percentage in those opportunities, though it was 5 of 6 against Alcorn State.
Troy quarterback Goose Crowder has completed 52 percent of his passes, and the Trojans are averaging 4.4 yards per carry as a unit. Jahiem Merriweather is averaging 6 yards per carry and is second on the team in attempts, but he ran for 127 yards against Alabama State to skew the numbers. Against FBS opponents, Troy is averaging just 3.9 yards per carry.
Southern Miss has already started two different quarterbacks and has mustered just 3.3 yards per carry in FBS games. These are two inefficient offenses, to say the least, so the under 49½ might be in play.
The weather doesn’t look great. But overall, as much as the Golden Eagles could struggle, an 11-point head start might be enough against a Troy team that has not played well at all on offense.
Pick: Southern Miss +11
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