Houston Cougars vs Georgia Southern Eagles Prediction, Picks and Game Preview - 09/26/2026

Game Time: 4:00 pm ET, Saturday, September 26, 2026

Venue:  Allen E. Paulson Stadium, Statesboro, GA

Where to Watch:  ESPNU

DraftKings:  Point Spread:  Houston -18.5, GA Southern +18.5; Over/Under:  56.5 points

Bet365:  Point Spread:  Houston -18.5, GA Southern +18.5; Over/Under:  56.5 points

BetMGM:  Point Spread:  Houston -18.5, GA Southern +18.5; Over/Under:  56.5 points

Houston Cougars:  2-1 (0-1) (14th place, Big 12)

Georgia Southern Eagles:  1-2 (0-0) (5th place, Sun Belt East)

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Houston Cougars:  lost their last game on the road against the Texas Tech Red Raiders 28-26.

Georgia Southern Eagles:  lost their last game on the road against the Jacksonville State Gamecocks 31-27.

Houston is entering this game with a 2-1 record overall and they have a 0-1 record in their conference games too. They are 2-0 in their home games, 0-1 in their road games, and they are also 0-0 in their neutral site games this season, but they will be on the road for this game. They lost their last game against Texas Tech 28-26. Conner Weigman was the starting QB and he completed 27/38 passes for 283 passing yards, 3 touchdowns, and 0 interceptions. Makhi Hughes led the team in rushing yards with 70. Amare Thomas led the receivers with 75 receiving yards on 7 receptions and 1 TD. Jaden Yates led the defense in that game with 8 tackles while Jaden Yates and Khalil Laufau each led the defense in sacks with 0.5. Jalen Mayo and Will James each came away with 1 interception for them in that one.

 

 

 

Georgia Southern is entering this game with a 1-2 record overall and they have a 0-0 record in their conference games too. They are 1-0 in their home games, 0-2 in their road games, and they are also 0-0 in their neutral site games this season, but they will be at home for this game. They lost their last game against Jacksonville State 31-27. Max Johnson was the starting QB and he completed 23/33 passes for 187 passing yards, 0 touchdowns, and 1 interception. David Mbadinga led the team in rushing yards with 103. Josh Dallas led the receivers with 43 receiving yards on 7 receptions. Rashon Myles Jr. led the defense in that game with 7 tackles while no one on the defense recorded a sack for them. No one on the defense came away with an interception for them in that one.

The current betting odds have Houston listed as an 18.5 point favorite in this game according to Draftkings Sportsbook. Houston has looked good in their games this season with their 2-1 record overall, but their 0-1 conference record has them right near the bottom of the Big 12. They haven't been a great road team either with their 0-1 road record this year. Meanwhile, Georgia Southern has looked bad in their games this season with their 1-2 record overall so far. They have looked a lot better on their home field though with their 1-0 home record this season. Georgia Southern's only home win this season was against a team from the FCS though. They didn't look terrible in their loss to Clemson, but Clemson has also had a bad start to their own season and now Georgia Southern is coming off a 31-27 loss to Jacksonville State who plays in a weaker conference. Their defense hasn't been terrible this year, but the offense has been and now their defense is actually going to get challenged by a great offense. Houston is coming off a 28-26 loss to Texas Tech in their last one and that early conference loss has them near the bottom of the Big 12, but they are still a ranked team and were right on the doorstep of tying the game late on the road against the Big 12 champions of last season. Houston will be looking to bounce back against a lesser opponent here and they do have a good offense with a lot of talent that has been putting up points in their first 3 games. Georgia Southern is going to be able to slow them down here, even being at home, and they definitely don't have the talent on offense to keep up in this game against a good Houston defense. Look for Houston to bounce back and use this as a get right game before entering the bulk of their conference schedule. The best way to place a bet here is on Houston to cover the spread in this game. 

Houston Georgia Southern Prediction:  Our NCAAF Pick for Saturday, September 26, 2026 (4:00 pm ET start time) is Houston 52 Georgia Southern 17.

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Houston Cougars: 25-39 ATS off a road loss against a conference rival. 7-13 ATS off 3 or more consecutive overs. 15-5 UNDER off 3 or more consecutive overs. 6-2 UNDER vs. good passing defenses - allowing 150 or less passing yards/game. 

Georgia Southern Eagles: 44-25 ATS in home lined games. 18-10 ATS in a home game where the total is between 56.5 and 63. 24-16 ATS vs. good passing teams averaging 250 or more passing yards/game. 15-7 UNDER after a 2 game road trip. 34-24 UNDER when the total is between 56.5 and 63.

Houston Cougars:  J. Strozier Jr. (WR) Out - Undisclosed. J. Ridgle (RB) Questionable - Undisclosed. M. Tounkara (WR) Out - Foot. L. McGary (TE) Out - Shoulder.

Georgia Southern Eagles:  A. Hollins (WR) Questionable - Shoulder. T. Gibbs (RB) Questionable - Undisclosed.

“There’s no moral victories. We came here to win. And we didn’t win.” - Willie Fritz after his team’s loss against Texas Tech in their last game. 

"Well, if you go back in to the third quarter, you know how many drives that we had in the third quarter, we had one. One of the more important drives of the game for us was that next drive offensively, that was a ten-play drive that led to scoring points and increased to a two-score [game]. Unfortunately, in the fourth quarter, I thought that we had that we needed one more score offensively." - Clay Helton after his team’s loss against Jax-State in their last game. 

WR Young, Koby

WR Walker, Trent

WR Thomas, Amare

TE Overmyer, Patrick

QB Weigman, Conner

RB Hughes, Makhi

WR Hollins, Ashton

WR Taylor, Alex

WR Dallas, Josh

WR Ware, Jeremiah

TE Helms, River

QB Johnson, Max

RB Mbadinga, David

Passing: Conner Weigman (708)

Rushing: Makhi Hughes (212)

Receiving: Amare Thomas (237)

Touchdowns: Amare Thomas (3)

Passing: Max Johnson (712)

Rushing: David Mbadinga (135)

Receiving: Ashton Hollins (202)

Touchdowns: Weston Bryan (4)

Coaches:

Houston Cougars: Willie Fritz (3rd season)

Georgia Southern Eagles: Clay Helton (5th season)