Southern Miss Golden Eagles at Auburn Tigers

The Auburn Tigers (1-0 SU & ATS), who passed the first test with their brand-new offensive scheme, will play host to the Southern Miss Golden Eagles (1-0 SU & ATS) of Conference USA in a college football game that is set to begin at 12:30 PM ET on Saturday at Jordan-Hare Stadium (natural turf) in Auburn, AL.

BetUS NCAA Football Betting Odds: AUBURN -17.5, Total 45.5

Here are some of the NCAA college football betting trends as they relate to this matchup:

* USM has won and covered four of its last six games'
* USM has played five of its last seven games UNDER the total
* USM has covered five of its last six road games
* USM has won four of its last six road games SU
* USM has played six of its last eight road games OVER the total
* AUB has won five of its last six games SU
* AUB has won its last six home games SU
* AUB has covered four of its last five home games
* AUB has played seven of its last nine games UNDER the total

Auburn's brand new spread offense is taking a little bit longer to catch on than expected. At least longer than offensive coordinator Tony Franklin has expected. Franklin is hot that his two quarterbacks - Kodi Burns and Chris Todd - managed to combine for only 13 completions and 85 yards passing in the opening game against Louisiana-Monroe. "The quarterbacks were both just blah. They were average. I did a poor job of coaching them and it showed," said Franklin. Todd wil get the start this week, and it is questionable as to whether Burns, who has a leg injury, will be able to play at all. If he doesn’t, that will take away the "change of pace" Auburn was hoping to add to make its scheme harder to prepare for.

It's a good thing for Auburn that it can run the ball (321 yards against ULM) and play hellacious defense, because they have some things available to compensate for the growing pains caused by learning Franklin's spread attack. Auburn has allowed just 23 points in its last five home games, and they are going to facing a young quarterback (freshman Austin Davis) who is making juist his second collegiate start. Southern Miss had 633 yards of offense last week against Louisiana-Lafayette, which is a school record, and running back Damion Fletcher, legitimately one of the best in the nation (22 yards vs. ALL last week) is someone who is impossible to ignore. But USM is using virtually the same version of the spread that L-Monroe used last week, so there won't be any culture shock in the Tigers' preparation.

In the "obstacles to overcome" department, the Eagles gave up 6.1 yards a carry to the Ragin' Cajuns in their 51-21 win, and that is just not going to cut it against Auburn's speedy backs. We recognize Southern Miss as a squad that should once again get to one of those minor bowls, and they're often pesky. But by the same token, there is a class difference here, and these Eagles have not proven to be the best road warriors (failing to cover in their last six games as a road underdog).

We'll look for improved play out of the Auburn QB's, and for the Tigers to control the line of scrimmage. Lay the points with Auburn, the 17.5-point favorite in the BetUS NCAAF betting odds.