4* South Carolina -6
South Carolina went 5-1 in their last 6 games with the one loss being Clemson & 4-1-1 ATS. On the road last year against conference opponents they were 3-1 ATS.
Miss St on the other hand, went 1-5 in their last 6 & 1-4-1 ATS. In 4 out of their 5 home games, they lost by an avg margin of 18. The largest margin of defeat being againt LSU by 30 & the smallest margin of defeat being against Houston by 12.
It usually takes two years for a quarterback to fully grasp Steve Spurrier's complex system. Nearly every great quarterback Spurrier had at Florida redshirted thier first year. Blake Mitchell should be much improved and more comfortable in Spurriers offense.
USC recieves a big addition in Cory Boyd. He sat out last year, due to suspension. He should take some pressure off Sidney Rice (70 receptions for 1,143 yards and 13 TD in 2005) who will probably see a lot of double teams.
Syvelle Newton is another person making his debut for USC after missing the last 5 games of 2005 with a torn Achilles tendon.
Mississippi State's front seven on defense could cause a lot of problems for USCs inexperienced line. I see Mitchell reverting to two and three step drops and quick slants his WRs and TEs if he gets in trouble. Spurrier will look to get his playmakers out in open space by calling alot of screens, draws, and dump passes, where they can take advantage of Miss. St. weak secondary and make plays.
Miss. St. doesnt have much on offense to contend with USC. If USC can jump out to a quick lead and dictate the tempo of the game, Miss St. may have a hard time catching up. They may be forced to air it out, and if they do, this will play right into the hands of USC defense. Miss. St has Connor who is thier top WR, but USC Bennett is possibly the SEC's best cover man. If Bennett can win that battle, this may force Miss. St to be one-dimensional.
Spurrier is still under the microscope. He still has to prove to fans and everybody watching that he has turned that program around. Being a Nole fan, one thing i can tell you is that Spurrier likes to jump on you right from the get go. He's relentless and very rarley calls off the dogs.
With all the negative USC comments Corso made, i bet the Gamecocks come out with an even bigger chip on their shoulder.
The Gamecocks own a perfect 12-0 record when opening the season on a day other than Saturday, outscoring their opponents by a 270-27 margin in those contests.
4*Iowa St -8.5
The last time ISU faced a respectable MAC defense, it shredded it on the ground. That was in 2004 when they rushed for 295 yards on 59 carries against Miami University in t Independence Bowl.
ISU has a big experienced offensivel line. Toledo uses the 3-4 defense. They return 2 of their 3 down linemen, but lost both starting ILB's. They will definetley feel the loss of Anthony Jordan who was the defensive do-it-all for toledo the past two seasons with 100+ tackles each year. ISU should be able to exploit the thin light defense of Toledo and get some second level blocking done on the LB's.
ISU was very weak in pass protection last year. They gave up way to many sacks. Toledo will blitz alot to get to Meyer. ISU should be prepared for this though. I think he will make Toledo pay.
ISU will use the 6 WR set tonight. Thats way too many Big 12 receivers out in routes for Toledo to cover. Toledo will probably double ISU WR Blythe, but there are too many other options for Meyer. It only takes one blow assignment for a double team to be ineffective. This should draw alot of attention away from the other WRs. I think Meyer will do the right thing and find the open man.
3*Ball St -4.5
2* Kent St +15
:toast:
South Carolina went 5-1 in their last 6 games with the one loss being Clemson & 4-1-1 ATS. On the road last year against conference opponents they were 3-1 ATS.
Miss St on the other hand, went 1-5 in their last 6 & 1-4-1 ATS. In 4 out of their 5 home games, they lost by an avg margin of 18. The largest margin of defeat being againt LSU by 30 & the smallest margin of defeat being against Houston by 12.
It usually takes two years for a quarterback to fully grasp Steve Spurrier's complex system. Nearly every great quarterback Spurrier had at Florida redshirted thier first year. Blake Mitchell should be much improved and more comfortable in Spurriers offense.
USC recieves a big addition in Cory Boyd. He sat out last year, due to suspension. He should take some pressure off Sidney Rice (70 receptions for 1,143 yards and 13 TD in 2005) who will probably see a lot of double teams.
Syvelle Newton is another person making his debut for USC after missing the last 5 games of 2005 with a torn Achilles tendon.
Mississippi State's front seven on defense could cause a lot of problems for USCs inexperienced line. I see Mitchell reverting to two and three step drops and quick slants his WRs and TEs if he gets in trouble. Spurrier will look to get his playmakers out in open space by calling alot of screens, draws, and dump passes, where they can take advantage of Miss. St. weak secondary and make plays.
Miss. St. doesnt have much on offense to contend with USC. If USC can jump out to a quick lead and dictate the tempo of the game, Miss St. may have a hard time catching up. They may be forced to air it out, and if they do, this will play right into the hands of USC defense. Miss. St has Connor who is thier top WR, but USC Bennett is possibly the SEC's best cover man. If Bennett can win that battle, this may force Miss. St to be one-dimensional.
Spurrier is still under the microscope. He still has to prove to fans and everybody watching that he has turned that program around. Being a Nole fan, one thing i can tell you is that Spurrier likes to jump on you right from the get go. He's relentless and very rarley calls off the dogs.
With all the negative USC comments Corso made, i bet the Gamecocks come out with an even bigger chip on their shoulder.
The Gamecocks own a perfect 12-0 record when opening the season on a day other than Saturday, outscoring their opponents by a 270-27 margin in those contests.
4*Iowa St -8.5
The last time ISU faced a respectable MAC defense, it shredded it on the ground. That was in 2004 when they rushed for 295 yards on 59 carries against Miami University in t Independence Bowl.
ISU has a big experienced offensivel line. Toledo uses the 3-4 defense. They return 2 of their 3 down linemen, but lost both starting ILB's. They will definetley feel the loss of Anthony Jordan who was the defensive do-it-all for toledo the past two seasons with 100+ tackles each year. ISU should be able to exploit the thin light defense of Toledo and get some second level blocking done on the LB's.
ISU was very weak in pass protection last year. They gave up way to many sacks. Toledo will blitz alot to get to Meyer. ISU should be prepared for this though. I think he will make Toledo pay.
ISU will use the 6 WR set tonight. Thats way too many Big 12 receivers out in routes for Toledo to cover. Toledo will probably double ISU WR Blythe, but there are too many other options for Meyer. It only takes one blow assignment for a double team to be ineffective. This should draw alot of attention away from the other WRs. I think Meyer will do the right thing and find the open man.
3*Ball St -4.5
2* Kent St +15
:toast:
