NFL Tickets
South Carolina is in the final game of a brutal three-game stretch of SEC opponents when they travel to Ben Hill Griffin Stadium Saturday to take on Florida.
After embarrassing Georgia two weeks ago at home, the Gamecocks were beat up on the road at LSU this past weekend, so the Gamecocks are 1-1 with the #2 team in the initial BCS standings licking their chops to take on a susceptible Gamecock team.
South Carolina needs this win to get back into the SEC east division race and Florida needs this to give them a two-game cushion over the Gamecocks, and they have Georgia looming large on their schedule.
Florida is coming off a win at Vanderbilt where quarterback Jeff Driskel struggled in the passing game, but made up for the lack of big throws with big runs. The first-year starter rushed for a career high 177 yards in the win, a feat that not even Tim Tebow accomplished during his career in Gainesville.
Yards will be at a premium in this game as each team boasts a terrific defense that rank inside the top six in the nation. This will not be a shootout, so if you’re a betting man, you may wanna lay some money on the under in this game as both teams give up just a measly 12.3 points per game.
South Carolina and Florida will be mirror images when the two are on the field Saturday. Each has an efficient quarterback that is adept at making plays with his feet as they are with their arms. Connor Shaw and Jeff Driskel have guided their teams to undefeated records, but it’s the running backs that drive the offense.
Florida’s Mike Gillislee and South Carolina’s Marcus Lattimore will take their teams as far as they take them, and that can be all the way to Atlanta for the SEC Championship game.
South Carolina can ill afford a second loss, which would all but sink their conference championship hopes, but they could not win on the road last week at LSU and The Swamp will be just as lively this weekend.
On the road this season Carolina is 2-1, but struggled at Vanderbilt in the season opener and trailed at halftime at Kentucky before escaping each time with the win.
Saturday will be the final road game before traveling to the other Death Valley to take on in-state rival Clemson in the season finale, so the Gamecocks need to play with a sense of desperation and urgency so they can pull off the upset.
Florida has to be leery of resting on their laurels and being comfortable with their ranking in the BCS and taking South Carolina lightly after their loss. I don’t think they will, but South Carolina will be playing with a chip on their shoulder so Florida has to be ready to withstand a few punches early if they want to be standing at the end.
On paper these two teams are relatively even across the board, but for the same reason I picked LSU to beat Carolina last weekend, I am taking Florida in a nail biter Saturday afternoon in Gainesville because of the home field advantage The Swamp generates.
Florida wins 23-21
Follow me on Twitter @PatrickASchmidt
Patrick is a diehard Chicago sports and avid college football fan, and the host of “The Wake-up Call,” a weekly sports show on Sportstownchicago.com Wednesday mornings from 8-10. View his show’s website here.
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