South Florida Bulls vs. South Carolina Gamecocks – Birmingham Bowl Predictions, Odds, Picks and NCAA Football Betting Preview – December 29, 2016

South Florida Bulls vs. South Carolina Gamecocks Betting Preview

Where: Legion Field, Birmingham

When: Thursday, December 29, 2:00 PM ET

Line: South Florida Bulls (-10) vs. South Carolina Gamecocks (+10); total: 62.5 – view all NCAA Football odds and lines

Betting on the South Florida Bulls (-10)

Armed with a potent offense that derives solid production from both its passing and rushing attacks, South Florida is ready to make waves this bowl season.

The Bulls have an almost-criminally underappreciated quarterback in Quinton Flowers, who’s deadly in using his arm and legs. The dual-threat quarterback finished the regular season with 2,551 passing yards and 22 touchdowns against only six interceptions. He did solid damage on the ground also, leading the team with 1,425 rushing yards and tying for most in rushing scores with 15. Flowers isn’t all the Bulls have on offense. There’s running back Marlon Mack, who also had 15 rushing touchdowns back in the regular season. Mack and Flowers were instrumental in beating UCF in the Bulls’ last game of the regular season, as the duo combined for 307 rushing yards and four rushing scores.

The duo will carry most of the load for South Florida, which is fifth in the nation in rushing offense, averaging 291.8 yards on the ground per contest.

USF is 3-1 ATS in its last four games.

Betting on the South Carolina Gamecocks (+10)

So there, South Carolina’s first season post Steve-Spurrier era can be considered a success, as Will Muschamp managed to guide the Gamecocks to a bowl appearance. A victory in Birmingham is going to be a great way for the program to pick up the pieces following a 56-6 beatdown at the hands of Clemson to close out the regular season.

The Gamecocks don’t have as explosive an offense as South Florida, but they have always gotten by (or at least hung around) by letting their defense do the talking on the field. South Carolina has a true freshman quarterback in Jake Bentley running the offense, and while he’s no Quinton Flowers, he’s surpassed expectations ever since he took over the starting gig by registering 1,030 passing yards and six touchdowns on 63.3 percent completion percentage.

South Carolina’s not going to win by engaging the Bulls in a shootout, however. The Gamecocks will have to slow the game down and force South Florida to commit errors. Muschamp’s team is one of the best in doing that at least statistically speaking, as the Gamecocks are sixth nationally in turnover margin with a +0.9 mark.

The Gamecocks are 5-5 ATS in the last 10 games in which they were underdogs by at least eight points.

Writer’s Prediction

South Florida wins (-10) wins, 27-21.

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