Georgia
vs.
South Carolina
College Football
Pick – Analysis
9/13/14
South Carolina has not started the season as planned, that much is certain as they are no longer the favorite to win the SEC East. Now, they’ll get to face current favorite in Georgia as home underdogs. The line opened as low as Georgia -2.5 at betonline. A little later 5 dimes opened the Game Georgia -4.5. Georgia money kept flowing as almost 90% of the early wagers have all come in on Georgia. The line now sits at Georgia -6 across the board.
The Gamecocks already have two non-covers which is the main reason they are such big underdogs at home in a Conference Game. Everyone knows about their opener against Texas A&M (52-28 loss), but last week it wasn’t all much better against the smaller East Carolina. While SC got the win, they only won 33-23 and were actually outgained by the Pirates.
And that’s where Georgia steps in. While this isn’t the team from the last couple years, they still have plenty of talent. Stopping Todd Gurley is going to be the main problem for South Carolina. Gurley is in Heisman talks as the best running back in the nation and he already carved Clemson up for 198 yards and three TDs on only 15 carries.
So far SC’s defense has struggled in both areas of the Game, and they’ve played two pass-heavy teams. against a more rounded team like Georgia may be even a bigger test. We still haven’t really seen what Hutson Mason can do as he wasn’t needed much against Clemson. But if South Carolina can’t stop the ground Game, Mason may not have to do much again.
The Gamecocks haven’t been all that great offensively either with Dylan Thompson as the starting quarterback. He had some experience prior to this year, but he hasn’t show the knack for winning Games like Connor Shaw had. Getting the ground Game going behind Mike Davis and Brandon Wilds will be South Carolina’s goal again.
The Bulldogs dominated Clemson on the line in their first Game and now they had a week off before this one. When Texas A&M contained South Carolina’s running Game, Thompson didn’t show enough to win for the Gamecocks.
Thompson has decent numbers through two Games with 632 yards and five TDs, but his 50 percent completion rate against the Aggies is worrisome. Sure, he was better against East Carolina, but that defense is a step below these SEC teams.
The Bulldogs are just 1-5 ATS in their last six road Games and only 1-5-1 ATS in their last seven Conference Games. The Gamecocks are 5-1 ATS in their last six vs. a team with a winning record. Georgia is only 1-5-1 ATS in the last seven meetings between these schools. The under has hit nine straight times when these teams play in South Carolina and it is 14-3 in their last 17 overall meetings.