Southern Mississippi vs South Carolina College Football Predictions: Thursday night, with kickoff set for 7:30 pm Eastern, the University of South Carolina Gamecocks will get the 2010 SEC football season started when they host the University of Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles of Conference USA in a non-league game at Williams Brice Stadium in Columbia, S.C.
Neither Carolina nor USM are ranked by any of the major college football polls but the Gamecocks are considered heavy favorites in the game, lined at Sportsbook.com as 14-chalk favorites. The games posted total opened at 47 points.
While the Golden Eagles are considered a threat to make waves in C-USA, it's doubtful they have the talent to hang with the Gamecocks for four quarters. Coached by the legendary creator of the Fun 'N Gun offense, Steve Spurrier finally has all the pieces of a puzzle needed to make a run at the SEC East, dominated by Florida, Georgia and Tennessee in years past.
Spurrier has a veteran SEC caliber strong armed quarterback in fourth-year junior Stephen Garcia. Garcia should have no problem picking apart the USM secondary, one of C-USA's worst in 2009. Garcia finally began to click in 2009 starting all 13 games when he threw for 2,862 yards, 17 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.
The Golden Eagles have a strong defensive line that goes two deep. No doubt that USM will defense Garcia by sustaining a strong rush with hopes of forcing the experienced quarterback into making mistakes. The starting four has been well-established since the second half of last season with Deddrick Jones and Corderro Law at the defensive ends and Anthony Gray and Terrance Pope at the two tackles.
Those who keep up with college football news will know that several South Carolina players are under scrutiny by the NCAA because of getting a reduced rate for lodging at a Columbia, S.C. hotel where they were staying through August drills. There is the possibility that some suspensions could come down over the matter, but as of Sunday, the NCAA has not made any decisions.
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