Ole Miss at South Carolina Odds
Written by Rock Henderson - Google +
The fourth ranked Mississippi Rebels are out to prove they deserve their top five ranking when they face their first real test of the season in South Carolina. Jevan Snead leads the potent offensive attack of Ole Miss and has thrown multiple touchdown passes in eight straight games. The Rebels will be looking to end a five game losing streak in SEC openers. South Carolina posted a 31-24 victory in Oxford last fall that has been Mississippi’s only loss in its last eight games. The Gamecocks are led by sophomore quarterback Stephen Garcia and his 253 yards/game, good enough for second in the SEC. Looking at the latest odds for this matchup Ole Miss is a 4 point favorite on the road and the total is set for 53.5 points.
The ole ball coach Steve Spurrier might have one of his best teams at South Carolina in his fifth year as head coach. The Cocks’ are a play away from starting the season 3-0 and close to stealing two road victories in tough venues to win. A Thursday night game with the entire nation watching will add to the raucous atmosphere of Williams-Brice Stadium. Spurrier’s offense has gotten on track the last two games, averaging 39.5 points after scoring only seven points in the opener against NC State. Garcia has much to do with the turnaround as he has certainly stepped up his game. The Gamecocks are still in search of a go to running back as Jarvis Giles is only average 50 yards per game but the team as a whole has totaled 170 yards on the ground/game. Defensively, South Carolina only gives up 89 yards on the ground. DE Eric Norwood is the heart and soul of the team and has four sacks and one interception in three games. The Gamecocks D has totaled 10 sacks in all and must concentrate on slowing the Rebel running attack to make their offense one dimensional.
Houston Nutt turned around an Ole Miss program that hadn’t been to a bowl game since 2003 and now, in two years, has them competing for a national title after winning the Cotton Bowl a year ago. Texas transfer Jevan Snead was not about to sit behind Colt McCoy for four years and decided to pack his bags for Oxford, MS where he knew he would play immediately. Snead is has a strong supporting cast with running back Brandon Bolden rushing for 88 yards per game and WR Dexter McCluster snatching nine balls for 113 yards and a touchdown. Mississippi’s defense can be described as opportunistic. The secondary has returned an interception for a touchdown in three straight games. The Rebels will be shooting for their first 3-0 start to a season since 1989 on Thursday night and have won their last four games in South Carolina.
The line for this match-up opened up at 4.5 points favoring Ole Miss and immediately fell to 3 at most notable books. This line movement had to have a lot of people scratching their head. Home teams seem to get an added boost on Thursday nights knowing they are the showcase game and underdogs have faired extremely well in this situation. If you can get the Rebels at -3, play them. If anything larger, take the Gamecocks at home as games between these two have generally be decided by a field goal or less.
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