South Carolina vs. LSU Odds
Written by Jason Lowry - Google +
This weekend the LSU Tigers (4-1) will try to avoid 2 straight losses in conference play, when they travel to take on the South Carolina Gamecocks (5-2). Last week LSU had its perfect season ruined when the Florida Gators cleaned house taking home a 51-21 win. While LSU struggled the Gamecocks won their 4th straight game, and there 2nd consecutive win on the road in conference play, as they handed Kentucky a 24-17 loss. The oddsmakers see the Tigers as the better team, as LSU is favored by 3.5 points over South Carolina.
Last week the LSU offense really struggled to get much going as quarterback Jarret Lee through just as many touchdowns as interceptions (2), and the Tigers running game was no where to be found. The offense has really struggled on the road compared to home, so it will be interesting to see how they respond this weekend against a pretty good South Carolina defense. The key for LSU is getting running back Charles Scott the football and letting him where down the opposing team. After running for over a 100 yards in every game this season, Scott was held to just 35 yards on just 12 attempts. Look for the Tigers to run early and often this weekend, as they can’t afford to drop another one in conference play.
The LSU defense had no answer at all for the Gators offense as they did pretty much whatever they wanted the whole game. The Tigers had been playing some pretty solid football on this side of the ball, but Tim Tebow was just too much for this defense to control. The Gamecocks don’t have that explosiveness that the Gators have, but they can move the football and it will be up to the LSU defense to keep this one from being another blowout. We look for the Tigers to play much better defense this weekend, but whether its good enough to win the game, is up in the air.
Getting to South Carolina who have really been in every single game this year, and could very easily be 7-0 right now, as they suffered a tough loss on the road to Vandy and a heartbreaker to Georgia earlier in the season. Now the Gamecocks have a chance to get right back in the thick of things, if they can pull off the upset at home against the Tigers. In their last game against Kentucky the Gamecocks turned the game over to freshman quarterback Stephen Garcia, as he replaced starter Chris Smelley. Smelley was struggling to hit open receivers, and had already given the ball to the other team twice. Garcia game in and impressed, leading the Gamecocks offense on 4 straight drives into Wildcat territory, and the game winning touchdown. While Smelley might get another shot to start, don’t be surprised if head coach Steve Spurrier is quick to pull the trigger, and bring in Garcia.
The reason that the Gamecocks have been in every single game this season, is they have one of the best defenses in all of football. In their last game against Kentucky they held the Wildcats to just a little over 70 yards on the ground, and made quarterback Mike Hartline look confused on what he was doing, as they allowed him to complete just 23 of 43 passes for a 152 yards, and racked up 2 interceptions. If the offense gives them any help this weekend, there is no question that this defense is good enough to keep any team in check, including LSU.
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