Myrtle Beach Bowl point spread: Picking Georgia Southern Eagles vs. Ohio Bobcats

The Myrtle Beach Bowl isn’t the most popular, but it can certainly be the most fun. On Dec. 16, the Georgia Southern Eagles and Ohio Bobcats will square off in the bowl matchup. Georgia Southern is a 3.5-point favorite in the contest, according to FanDuel.

The two teams will look to add to the Myrtle Beach Bowl’s short history. The game was first played in December 2020. Unlike the name suggests, the bowl isn’t in Myrtle Beach. Instead, Coastal Carolina University hosts the game at its Brooks Stadium in Conway, South Carolina, which has a capacity of 20,000 seats.

How to watch Georgia Southern vs. Ohio

Time: 11 a.m. ET
Channel: ESPN, FuboTV (streaming)
Location: Brooks Stadium — Conway, SC

Although Georgia Southern is the favorite in the outing, it isn’t carrying an imposing record. The Eagles just scraped into the bowl game with a 6-6 record. Worse, the team finished the regular season on a four-game losing streak.

In comparison, Ohio boasts a 9-3 record, including a win over Power Five program Iowa State. Nonetheless, Ohio won’t be close to full-strength.

“Kurtis Rourke is not playing. He is in the transfer portal. He was the MAC player of the year last year,” The Athletic’s Chris Vannini said. “CJ Harris, their backup, was out for the year with an injury earlier in the season.

“They’re going to be down to the third-string quarterback, Parker Navarro, I believe will get the start. Ohio’s top two running backs are also in the portal. So is a wide receiver. You can kind of get a vibe here on where things are at for Ohio.”

In 11 games this season, Rourke amassed 2,207 passing yards and 11 touchdowns while only throwing five interceptions. He also picked up 219 yards and four scores in the ground game. The loss will be noticeable for the Bobcats.

Georgia Southern isn’t dealing with nearly the same amount of issues.

“They are at fairly full strength,” On3’s Andy Staples said. “Khaleb Hood is their volume receiver. He’s got 94 catches for 917 yards this year. That’s not a great average, but it is a lot of catches, and they throw a lot. This could be a shootout, and not in the way that most people would like to see a shootout played, but I love it.”

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Both Staples and Vannini are taking the Georgia Southern spread in the contest. Although neither picked a side on the point total, the over/under is currently set 48.5 points.