Florida at South Carolina Betting Line & Spread

Written November 13, 2009 by Rock Henderson

Steve Spurrier will look over to the opposing sideline this Saturday and see familiar colors that he was apart of for twelve seasons when the top ranked Florida Gators roll into town. The ole ball coach was credited for changing the landscape of the SEC while with the Gators as he installed his pass happy offense that led to one national championship. Current Gator coach Urban Meyer prefers more of a spread option attack and has won 3 of 4 meetings against Spurrier including a 56-6 romp of the Gamecocks a year ago in the swamp. Florida is a 16 point favorite on the road according to our latest college football odds.

South Carolina is doing its usual thing, starting out quick to begin the season and then fading to the finish. The Cocks’ have lost their last two SEC match-ups to drop their conference record to 3-4. Their usual stingy defense has been a letdown recently, allowing both Tennessee and Arkansas to eclipse the 30 point mark in losses. They are a very talented team, but young to boot. Led by sophomore quarterback Stephen Garcia and his 2421 yards passing with 13 touchdowns, the Gamecock offense has sputtered in recent weeks. A big reason for the struggles on offense has been a lack of a running game to give them some balance. RB Kenny Miles leads the team in rushing with just over 48 yards per game. Spurrier has gone back to his air it out strategy with a group of young big play wide receivers. Freshman Alshon Jeffery is going to be an impact player in the SEC for years to come as he has totaled 33 catches for 613 yards and six touchdowns in his first year. South Carolina’s defense features one of the best linebackers in the nation as Eric Norwood as reeked havoc on opposing offenses all season long with his seven sacks and 10.5 tackles for loss.

It is hard to critique a team that is the defending national champion and has won nine straight to start this season, but if there is one area that Florida needs to work on it is red zone efficiency. They are settling for too many field attempts inside the 20 and that could comeback to cost them down the road. While Tim Tebow’s numbers are down from a year ago, he has still managed to amass over 2000 yards of total offense and find the end zone 20 times. RB Jeff Demps is averaging an outrageous 7.8 yards per carry and has taken over as the main ball carrier for the Gators. Florida is throwing the ball much more this year as they have utilized their playmaking TE Aaron Hernandez to the tune of 43 catches for 541 yards. WR Riley Cooper has been consistent all year and has a team high five touchdown catches. LB Brandon Spikes will return for this game after missing the game against Vanderbilt due trying to eye gouge a Georgia Bulldog player. This team as a whole is by far the fastest in the nation and their speed will be on full display against the Gamecocks. Open a new account with Sportsbook.com today and get a$20 free play that you can us to bet on college football this season!

Florida has absolutely dominated this match-up the past couple years and flat out embarrassed Spurrier at the Swamp a year ago. The Gators haven’t been as good ATS this season as they were last, but don’t expect Urban Meyer to let off the gas in this one. South Carolina plays much better in front of their home crowd, but Tim Tebow and company will take the crowd out of it early and runaway with the win. Play: Gators -16

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