Georgia at South Carolina Line

Written by Steve Janus

This Saturday the No. 12 South Carolina Gamecocks and Georgia Bulldogs will face off in a crucial SEC East division showdown. The Gamecocks got off to a slow start against East Carolina, but wound up pulling away for a 56-37 win. The Bulldogs fell to 0-1 after losing to No. 5 Boise State 35-21. South Carolina beat Georgia 17-6 at home last year in a hard fought defensive showdown. While there is a ton of season left, this game could very well decide who plays in the SEC Championship Game out of the East.

Current college football odds have South Carolina favored by 3-points with the total set at 51.

South Carolina

Head coach Steve Spurrier decided to not play starting quarterback Stephen Garcia the entire first quarter. Without Garcia the offense struggled and left the opening period down 17-0. Garcia came in and got the offense rolling over the final three periods. He threw for just 110 yards and a touchdown, but also had 56 yards and two scores on the ground.

The majority of the offense came from sophomore running back Marcus Lattimore, who carried it 23 times for 112 yards and three touchdowns and caught three passes for 33 yards. It seems that whenever Lattimore has it going the Gamecocks are extremely tough to stop offensively.

Star wide out Alshon Jeffery caught a team-high five passes for 92 yards, while sophomore Ace Sanders hauled in the only receiving touchdown from three yards out. Expect the passing game to be more of a factor with Garcia back in the starting lineup.

The fact that East Carolina put up 345 yards of total offense has to be a concern going forward. They really struggled against the pass, as East Carolina’s Dominique Davis threw for 260 yards with four touchdowns to one interception. Expect the secondary to be tested again this week by Georgia’s Aaron Murray.

Georgia

The Bulldogs were a bit outmatched in their opener against Boise State, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t going to have a successful season. Murray ended up throwing for 236 yards with two touchdowns and an interception, but just couldn’t keep the offense on the field early in the game. Georgia scored on an 80-yard touchdown run by Brandon Boykin to take a 7-0 lead, but didn’t score again until Murray hit Orson Charles on a 36 yards touchdown pass with 1:19 left in the third quarter.

Charles finished with a team-best six catches for 109 yards, while Malcolm Mitchell hauled in three passes for 64 yards and a score. These two figure to get a lot of looks against the Gamecocks’ secondary this weekend.

Freshman running back Isaiah Crowell carried it 15 times for 60 yards in his first collegiate game. It wasn’t the performance the Bulldogs were hoping to see. Overall the ground game wasn’t all that impressive. They finished with just 137 total yards on the ground and 80 of those yards came on one play by Boykin.

Defensively the Bulldogs’ secondary was picked apart by Boise State’s Kellen Moore, who completed 28 of 34 attempts for 261 yards and three touchdowns. They were better against the run, but still gave up 129 yards and two scores on the ground. Expect South Carolina to really pound the ball with Lattimore and try and wear down Georgia’s defense.

Betting Trends:

South Carolina is 5-0 ATS in their last 5 games as a road favorite of 0.5-3.0.

Road team is 4-1-1 ATS in their last 6 meetings.

UNDER is 13-1 in the last 14 meetings.

Make sure to check out what Steve Janus has going in premium college football picks this week.

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