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South Carolina Vanderbilt Odds, Spread, Line & College Football Picks

Written by Jimmy Boyd on September 2, 2008

There will be another great Thursday night football matchup on September 4th when South Carolina heads to Vanderbilt for a 7:30 PM EST SEC showdown live on ESPN. The initial line on the game is South Carolina -10 against Vanderbilt with a total not yet set for the game.

Chris Smelley will be the starter at quarterback for the Gamecocks after Tommy Beecher was injured in the opener. Smelley came in during the fourth quarter and got the offense going, after a sluggish first three quarters of play. Beecher had four interceptions in those three quarters and he was supposed to be the main signal caller for South Carolina all year long in 2008, but after Smelley played so well in relief it’s his job to lose from here on out. When he came in during the fourth quarter, he completed all five of his throws for two touchdowns and led the team on three drives that ended in touchdowns. Smelley looked more confident and even though he’s a sophomore, he did start six games last season. Now, after the win last week the Gamecocks have made their way into the top 25. Even if Beecher hadn’t been injured in the contest then we feel like Spurrier would have stuck with Smelley, sinc ehe is known to have a quick trigger finger on yanking quarterbacks.

The real key for the Gamecocks this week though will be the play of their offensive line, which struggled last week in being called for four false starts, a holding penalty, and allowed their quarterback to be sacked five times. Vanderbilt has a pretty good defense so look for them to try to bring some heat on Smelley and force some mistakes.

Last year Smelley got the start against the Commodores as well but came up short in front of the home faithful in a 17-6 setback. The line was poor in that game as well, allowing seven sacks and caused Smelley to throw his career high of two interceptions before being yanked from the game. The line couldn’t open up any holes either as the team was limited to just 26 yards on the ground after attempted 22 rushes. Mike Davis is hoping he performs more like he did last week, when he had 101 yards and a score on 14 rushes than he did last year against Vandy, when he only gained 16 yards on six rushes.

Defensively, South Carolina put on quite a show last week even after having to deal with Beecher’s four picks. The team shut out it’s first opponent since their 2006 opener against Mississippi State. This was a big change for the team that was one of the worst in the SEC a year ago when they allowed 378.1 ypg, but against NC State they gave up only 138 yards and ten first downs while forcing the Wolfpack to turn the ball over four times. However, this week they should face a tougher test from Vanderbilt. Bet the South Carolina -10 spread at BetUS and get a big signup bonus!

The Commodore offense was fairly impressive when beating up Miami of Ohio last week. They won the game 34-13 and gained 360 yards of total offense, led by quarterback Chris Nickson’s 166 yards and two rushing touchdowns, while also throwing for another score. Nickson was sorely missed last year when he missed the second half of the season with a seperated shoulder. This year though, Nickson is healthy and Vanderbilt plans on using his speed and abilities to the fullest with a game plan revolving around him moving the ball.

This is a big game for the Commodores, who haven’t opened up with consecutive wins since Cutler led this team to four straight wins back in 2005. Vanderbilt has also lost four straight at home to the Gamecocks, and have lost 14 of 17 to South Carolina in the two teams’ history. Take the +10 Vanderbilt odds at BetUS and get a big signup bonus!

Remember to check out the latest college football odds here at the site and also take a look at what college football picks our experts have for the weekend!

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