Georgia Bulldogs vs South Carolina Gamecocks CFB Odds, Betting Preview 9/8/18

Saturday afternoon on the college gridiron and a pair of teams from the Southeastern Conference will square off as the Georgia Bulldogs grapple with the South Carolina Gamecocks. This game will take place at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, South Carolina and it has a start time of 3:30 PM ET. Georgia won last year’s meeting at home by a score of 24-10.

Lines:  Georgia -10… Over/Under 56

A Look At Georgia

The Georgia Bulldogs played in the National Title game and the came up just a bit short as they fell to Alabama by a score of 26-23 in OT. This year are highly ranked again as they have 13 starters back from that team, including eight on offense. QB Jake Fromm is back after throwing for 2615 yards with 24 TDs and just seven INTs as a freshman last year. He had a nice game in their 45-0 opening win over Austin Peay as he hit 12/16 pass for 157 yards and two TDs. D’Andre Swift is taking over Nick Chubb and had 43 and a TD in the game. This is a team with a lot of weapons, but facing off against an FCS team in their first game was really a test. This offense will have a tougher test against an SEC defense in this one.

The defense has been a real staple of the Bulldogs over the years and they have another tough one. They do have just five starters back on this side of the ball, but Kirby Smart has recruited well and this defense rates out as one of the best in the nation. The Dawgs allowed just 16.4 ppg last year and could put up similar numbers this year. They allowed just 152 yards in their opener, but that is still not a good test as Austin Peay is an FCS team. The Bulldogs really can focus on this game as they have just Middle Tennessee on deck.

A Look At South Carolina

South Carolina had a very nice 9-4 season last year and they could have another solid season this time around. They have 14 starters back and 55 lettermen overall, while losing just 13. This is an experienced team and they are off a strong 49-15 home win over Coastal Carolina. Still, they will get a better gauge of how good they are in this one. Carolina has eight starters back on offense, including QB Jake Bentley, who threw for 2794 yards and 18 TDs last year. He had a very good game in the opener as he hit 22/29 passes for 250 yards with four TDs and no INTs. He will have to be just as good in this one. The ground game was led by Rico Dowdle, who ran for 105 yards and a TD.

Overall, the offense put up 561 yards of total offense and they were very balanced as they ran for 267 yards and threw for 294. It will not be that easy this week, but they will have a good shot at winning the game if they can get balance like they did in the opener. The defense allowed 20.7 ppg last year and they have six starters back from that group. The allowed just 243 yards of total offense to the Chanticleers, but this Georgia offense will be very strong this year. Can the Carolina defense step up? Will their offense get some balance. We shall see.    

Trends

Georgia is:

8-1 ATS in their last 9 games after allowing less than 170 yards passing in their previous game

17-5 ATS in their last 22 road games

13-3 ATS in their last 16 road games vs. a team with a winning home record

The Over is 5-1 in Bulldogs last 6 games following an ATS loss

South Carolina is:

7-1-3 ATS in their last 11 conference games

18-7-1 ATS in their last 26 games following a straight up win of more than 20 points

6-1-2 ATS in their last 9 games after accumulating more than 450 total yards in their previous game

The Over is 5-2 in their last 7 home games