Volunteers vs Gamecocks NCAA Football Spread/Handicapping
The South Carolina Gamecocks were national title contenders just two weeks ago, but after losing two straight matchups against top-10 opponents, they find themselves trying to bounce back with their SEC title hopes essentially down the drain.
The Tennesse Volunteers have also struggled as of late, but the difference is, they’ve yet to come up with a single victory against an SEC opponent in 2012.
Tennessee Volunteers (3-4) vs No.13 South Carolina Gamecocks (6-2)
Saturday October 27, 2012
Williams-Brice Stadium, COLUMBIA, SC
12:00 PM ET
Moneyline: South Carolina -550, Tennessee +425 from GTBets.eu
Spread: South Carolina -14
O/U: 55.5
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Tennessee Volunteers
The Tennessee Volunteers are in the midst of one of the toughest stretches in all of college football. The team opened up SEC competition against Florida in week three of the season, and since then—with the exception of unranked Akron in week four—they’ve faced nothing but top-20 teams. Last week the team faced off against No. 1 Alabama, and the final result was a 44-13 trouncing in the Crimson Tide’s favor.
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It doesn’t get any easier for the Volunteers this week with a road visit to Williams-Brice Stadium. Tennessee is averaging almost 35 points per game, and they must put up similar numbers against the Gamecocks if they’re going to stand a chance.
Quarterback Tyler Bray has been decent this season, having thrown for 1,914 yards and 16 touchdowns, but it’s been wide receiver Cordarrelle Patterson who has been the biggest reason why. The J.C. transfer has the most all-purpose yards on the team (137.9 per game) and he’s a threat to score in the passing, running and special teams portions of the game.
South Carolina has a deadly defensive end in Jadeveon Clowney, who is second in the SEC in sacks, so protecting the quarterback will be huge in getting the passing game going this week.
South Carolina Gamecocks
The South Carolina Gamecocks haven’t had the duration of top-quality opponents that Tennessee has, but the last three weeks have featured No. 5 Georgia, No. 9 LSU and No. 2 Florida on their schedule. The team started strong against Georgia with a 35-7 win, but has since stumbled, losing the last two. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
The team’s offense goes through Marcus Lattimore, and in their only two losses of the season, the star running back was never able get going. He suffered a bruised hip against LSU (13 CAR, 35 YDS, 1 TD) and was used minimally against Florida last week (3 CAR, 13 YRD, 0 TD). Head coach Steve Spurrier has said that Lattimore is healthy and will get plenty of touches against Tennessee, which is good news for South Carolina and their fans.
Spurrier has also said that starting quarterback Connor Shaw, who was pulled half way through the Florida debacle, will play the whole game this week regardless of what happens.
The Gamecocks’ defense may have given up 44 points to the Gators, but they’re a big reason why the team was considered elite for the first half of the season. Having allowed just 16.3 points per contest this year, shutting down Tennessee’s offense will be the primary goal come Saturday.
Both of these teams are known for putting up more than 30 points per game, but only one is known for stopping the other from doing the same, and that’s South Carolina.
Trends
- Gamecocks are 7-0 ATS in their last 7 games following a ATS loss.
- Gamecocks are 6-0 ATS in their last 6 home games.
- Gamecocks are 5-0 ATS vs. a team with a losing record.
- Gamecocks are 6-1 ATS in their last 7 games overall.
- Over is 5-1 in Gamecocks last 6 vs. a team with a losing record.
- Over is 5-1 in Gamecocks last 6 games after scoring less than 20 points in their previous game.
- Over is 5-0 in Volunteers last 5 games on grass.
- Over is 4-0 in Volunteers last 4 games following a S.U. loss.
- Over is 5-0 in Volunteers last 5 games following a ATS loss.
O/U Pick: 55.5
Score Prediction: South Carolina 38 – Tennessee 20
