NCAA Football Week 6 – South Carolina Gamecocks at Ole Miss Rebels
The South Carolina Gamecocks (3-2 SU, 1-2-1 ATS) will try to derail a Mississippi team that is flying high right now when they hook up with the Rebels (3-2 SU, 3-1 ATS) in an SEC game that is scheduled for a 2 PM ET kickoff at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium (artificial turf) in Oxford, MS.
Saturday, October 4
BetUS NCAA Football Betting Odds: MISSISSIPPI -2.5, Total 43.5
Here are some of the NCAA college football betting trends as they relate to this matchup:
* SC has lost seven of its last ten games SU
* SC is 9-3-1 ATS in its last 13 road games
* SC is 1-3-1 ATS in its last five road games
* SC has lost four of its last five road games SU
* SC has played five of its last six road games UNDER the total
* MISS has lost 11 of its last 16 games SU
Also….
* MISS has won the last four meetings SU
Jevan Snead has not necessarily provided mistake-free quarterbacking for Ole Miss. He has thrown eight interceptions on the year, which is one-eighth the number of his completions. Snead got off to a strong start against Memphis and Wake Forest. But he has gone 21 for 45 in the last two weeks, with five pickoffs. On Saturday he is facing what might be his best defensive opponent, as South Carolina indeed ranks #1 in the country statistically, giving up 221 yards a game, and in what is a refreshing change for major college programs, they have been even tougher on teams like Vanderbilt and Georgia than they were against small college foe Wofford.
It will be hard to see how Snead can advance the ball up the field against a Gamecock team that permits just 5.3 yards a passing attempt and 3.2 yards per run. Houston Nutt is putting some of that “Wildcat” stuff in at Ole Miss, but the offense is still a work in progress. Remember that Snead was just 9 for 20 against Florida, and the rushing game averaged only three and a half yards a carry.
Okay, we admit that South Carolina’s quarterback, Stephen Garcia, is a work in progress as well. But after the ineptitude of Chris Smelley and Tommy Beecher (6 TD’s, 10 INT’s between them), the talent level of the hotly-recruited Garcia (who has had a few scrapes with the law) is refreshing. Now Steve Spurrier has an offensive attack with less in the way of limits, especially if Garcia (86 rushing yards last week) can continue to fill the vacuum created by the lack of a solid running game.
Spurrier’s team covers on the road (9-3-1 ATS in last dozen). And we see Ole Miss having some problems with the hangover created by that win over Florida. We’ll grab the points with the Gamecocks, the 2.5-point underdog in the BetUS NCAA college football betting odds.
