2025 JLab Birmingham Bowl Prediction: Georgia Southern vs App State
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Yeah, App State and Georgia Southern did this already back in early November, but it was fun. Hopefully, we get a JLab Birmingham Bowl as good as the 25-23 Eagle win.
Three of the last four Birmingham Bowls have been decided by one score, and this one should be interesting. It’s a repeat only because team after team after team opted out, so a 5-7 App State gets its shot to win its second bowl game in three years.
Georgia Southern is 0-3 in bowls under Clay Helton, and hasn’t won a bowl since the 2020 New Orleans.
What Georgia Southern and App State Must Do to Win the Birmingham Bowl
How To Watch App State vs Georgia Southern
Date: Monday, December 29, 2025
Game Time: 2:00 pm ET
TV: ESPN
Location: Protective Stadium, Birmingham, AL
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– Bowl Schedule, Predictions, Lines
– 2026 Early Heisman Top 10
Why App State Will Win
The Mountaineers got their chance to play more football, and they should play like it.
They lost five of their last six games, but the offense had several nice moments, the passing game is dangerous, and it all clicked late the first time around.
App State got down, but it roared back to make it tight late.
Georgia Southern’s defense is totally miserable on third downs, but it showed up big against the Mountaineers. As long as the passing attack can click a little bit better on the midrange passes early,
On the other side of the ball, App State has to hold up against the run. It allowed 142 yards in the first game, and that was the only time the Eagles won when they didn’t run for at least 170 yards.
The Mountaineer run defense isn’t a rock, but it should be okay enough to make this a fight. Okay, enough stalling …
Why Georgia Southern Will Win
Not only is App State a losing team coming into the bowl game, and not only is Georgia Southern better, but the transfer portal battle is all on the Eagles’ side.
There are a few missing parts for Georgia Southern, but App State is scrambling for a quarterback. JJ Kohl was the main man late in the season, but he’s in the portal along with AJ Swann, who threw for close 350 yards in the first meeting.
Almost as bad, the Mountaineers will be missing a few key defensive backs against an Eagle passing attack that ripped it up with big plays early on. JC French threw for 352 yards and a touchdown.
Unlike App State, who died down the stretch, Georgia Southern got hot, winning three of its last four games with the lone loss to a good Old Dominion team. As long as the offense avoids big mistakes …
App State vs Georgia Southern Prediction, Betting Lines
For all of the problems the Mountaineers had late in the year, they took the ball away with seven forced turnovers in the last three games. They have to come up with three in this.
Georgia Southern doesn’t really care about being careful with the ball, and it’ll let it rip – it just can’t screw up.
Yes, sometimes it’s hard to beat the same team twice. In this case, Georgia Southern knows how close it came to losing after getting up big. It won’t take its foot off the gas against a partially depleted team.
Georgia Southern 38, App State 21
Line: Georgia Southern -7.5, o/u: 59.5
ATS Confidence out of 5: 3.5
Must See Rating: 3
– Birmingham Bowl Expert Picks
College Football Playoff Predictions
Rose Bowl: Alabama vs Indiana
Cotton Bowl: Ohio State vs Miami
Orange Bowl: Oregon vs Texas Tech
Sugar Bowl: Georgia vs Ole Miss
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Related: 2025 Texas Bowl Prediction: LSU vs Houston
This story was originally published by College Football News on Dec 23, 2025, where it first appeared in the College Football section. Add College Football News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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