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Outback Bowl: Iowa vs. South Carolina Football Picks

Written December 31, 2008 by Jason Lowry

Iowa South Carolina Football

New Year’s Day is a day of recovering from a long night and watching some great football, and the first game of the day has the 8-4 Iowa Hawkeyes taking on the 7-5 South Carolina Gamecocks in the Outback Bowl. This is the first time these two teams have ever played, and both teams are trying to bounce back from a year where they didn’t even go to a bowl game to winning one this season. The Gamecocks had an up and down season losing 2 of its first 3 games then ripping off 6 wins in 7 games before losing its final two of the season. As for the Hawkeyes a 3 game losing streak midway through the season really hurt this team, and its a team that has lost 4 games by a combined 12 points. For those of you looking to bet on college football this bowl season, the oddsmakers have Iowa 4 point favorites over South Carolina at Sportsbook.com.

The Gamecocks bring a pretty balanced offensive attack to the game this Thursday, but they are a much better at moving the ball through the air, than they are on the ground. Chris Smelley and Stephen Garcia have both seen action at the quarterback position, and while Smelley has more yards and touchdowns on the season, Garcia is a much better on his feet. Look for both to see action in this one, and whoever throws the football will likely be looking for tight end Jared Cook and wideout Kenny McKinley. As for as the running game goes, Mike Davis is the main threat out of the backfield, but he is averaging just 3.6 yards per carry with only 571 yards and 3 scores on the season.

The defense for the Gamecocks comes in a little shaky after giving up 87 points in its final two games of the season. Still on the season this unit is strong and they are pretty good against the pass, but if they want to beat the Hawkeyes they are going to have to stop the running game. Having All-SEC linebacker Eric Norwood and his 66 tackles and conference best nine sacks will definitely help, but the team will be without their leading tackler Emanuel Cook who is academically ineligible. The Gamecocks can bring pressure, as they have recorded 18 sacks in their last 4 games, but the Hawkeyes might not even pass that much in this one. Bet South Carolina +4 at Sportsbook.com.

It’s pretty easy to figure out what the Hawkeyes are going to do in this one, as they have the All-American and Doak Walker Award winner Shonn Greene, who simply put the Hawkeyes offense on his shoulders and kept this team in every game running for at least a 100 yards in every game this season. Greene was the nations second leading rusher with 1,729 yards and also added a team high 17 touchdowns. So its no secret the Hawkeyes are going to try and run all over the Gamecocks in this one. If the Hawks have to resort to the pass it will be in the hands of Ricky Stanzi who stepped in to take over the starting job this season, and wound up throwing for 1,809 yards with 13 touchdowns to just 7 interceptions.

The Hawkeyes might not have the big name players that it has had in the past when they had one of the nations best defense, but the unit the Hawks send to the field in this one is pretty darn good as a whole. They are great against the run thanks to defensive lineman Mitch King, and they have a bunch of playmakers including guys like linebacker Pat Angerer and corner Amari Spievey that have led the Hawkeyes to 20 interceptions this season. Bet Iowa Hawkeyes -4 at Sportsbook.com.

Lowry’s Lean on the Game: Iowa -4
The Hawkeyes are the much better team when it comes to just matching talent for talent, and I believe that Shonn Greene is going to be such a big factor in this one, that Greene could go off for 200 yards in this one. The Gamecocks will keep it close early, but look for Iowa to pull away late, as Greene wears down opposing defenses with his brutal running style.

Predicted Score: Iowa 28 South Carolina 20

Check out the best NCAA football picks and grab the latest NCAA football odds for all the big games at Betfirms.

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