The college football season begins on Thursday night and one of the highlights will be a nationally-televised tussle between Southern Mississippi at South Carolina (7:35 p.m. ET, ESPN).
The love affair with Coach Steve Spurrier still continues even though his South Carolina teams have done little in five years. The Gamecocks have not been exciting on offense, but once again people think this is the year USC makes a big step up in the SEC.
South Carolina is listed as a 13.5-point favorite at SBG Global and the total is set at 45.5. On the moneyline, the Gamecocks are -600 favorites and the Golden Eagles are +450 dogs.
Southern Mississippi has a potent offense that could give South Carolina some problems on Thursday. The Golden Eagles were No. 18 in scoring last season and they return two solid quarterbacks in Austin Davis and Martevious Young. They have a superb wide receiver in DeAndre Brown.
The Eagles did have to replace their leading rusher and most of their offensive line so that is a concern. The defense looks solid with most of the starters from last year’s squad returning.
South Carolina returns quarterback Stephen Garcia who threw for 2,862 yards with 17 touchdowns and 10 interceptions last season. The receiving corps is solid with Alshon Jeffery and Tori Gurley. The team will be without star tight end Wesley Saunders who is suspended for this game so that will hurt.
The South Carolina defense was No. 15 in the nation last year and they return seven starters. The concern is in the secondary where the Gamecocks had to replace a lot of talent.
Here are some key college football betting stats for Thursday's game:
Southern Miss has been good bet on the road in recent years - they have gone 11-5 ATS in their last 16 road games. However, the Eagles are just 2-6 ATS in their last eight vs. the SEC.
The Gamecocks are 4-0 ATS in their last four games in September. The Gamecocks are 6-2 ATS in their last eight Thursday games.
Looking at the total, the under is 4-1 in the Golden Eagles' last five road games. The under is 8-3 in the Golden Eagles' last 11 vs. the SEC.
The under is 8-3 in the Gamecocks' last 11 non-conference games. The under is 11-5 in the Gamecocks' last 16 home games.
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