Missouri Tigers vs. South Carolina Gamecocks Predictions, Picks and Betting Preview – September 27, 2014

The Missouri Tigers are coming off a sorry loss to the Big Ten’s Indiana Hoosiers, and will now trek to Columbia to open up their conference play against the South Carolina Gamecocks. The defeat at the hands of the Hoosiers is a heavy one for Mizzou, who missed a chance to make a significant leap in the rankings ahead of their game against South Carolina this coming Saturday. Instead, the Tigers are now merely seeking to prevent skidding lower when they face the Gamecocks.

South Carolina, on the other hand, has the upper hand in the SEC East with a 2-1 record in conference play. Will the Tigers make a splash in Week 5? Or will the Gamecocks push Missouri further out of the equation in the SEC?

It’s a big week in college football. You can also read our preview of UCLA vs. Arizona State here.
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Missouri Tigers vs. South Carolina Gamecocks Betting Preview and Prediction

Where: Williams-Brice Stadium, Columbia

When: Saturday, September 27, 7:00 PM ET

Line: Missouri Tigers (+6) at South Carolina Gamecocks (-6) –  view all NCAA Football lines

Betting on the Missouri Tigers

[sc:NCAA240banner ]The Tigers are coming a rude surprise in the form of a 31-27 loss to the Indiana Hoosiers. The loss was Missouri’s first this season. It was also the school’s first defeat at home in six games dating back to last year. The Tigers now aim for a big bounce back win on the road against South Carolina. They are 6-1 straight up in their last seven road games with an identical 6-1 record ATS in those contests.

Missouri was actually winning the contest before being doomed by a miscue. The Tigers had a three-point lead with just a shade over two minutes left to play, and seemed to have ended the contest when they broke up a fourth-and-six pass by Indiana, only to be flagged for a pass interference. The ensuing play resulted to a completed 44-yard pass, setting up D’Angelo Roberts’ three-yard winning touchdown run one play later.

If there’s one lesson Missouri learned in that loss, it has to be to play smart at all times. The Tigers had 10 penalties for 75 yards in that game, the most they’ve had this season. Worse, it came against a 14-point underdog in Indiana.

Even in the losing effort, quarterback Matty Mauk continued to make a case for why he’s among the premiere signal-callers in the SEC. Against the Hoosiers, Mauk went 28-for-47 for 326 yards and two touchdowns, to take the overall lead in the FBS with 14 passing TDs. He’s poised to deal some serious damage, along with wide receivers Bud Sasser and Darius White, against a leaky South Carolina passing defense that allows opponents to throw the ball for 341.0 yards per game.

The Tigers’ offense can also expect more contribution from their backfield than usual, as running back Russell Hansbrough and company are faced with a Gamecocks’ rushing defense that has been porous early this season, surrendering 172.67 yards on the ground per game. Hansbrough leads the team with 377 rushing yards with three TDs.

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Betting on the South Carolina Gamecocks

After the Vanderbilt Commodores did some nasty things to the Gamecocks’ defense to lead by 14 at the end of the opening period of their Week 4 matchup, Steve Spurrier’s boys woke up from a deep slumber and recovered just in time to win the game 48-34. The Gamecocks now return to Columbia, where they have won 17 of their last 20 games there since 2012.

Once again, Dylan Thompson came to the rescue, passing for 237 yards and three touchdowns to help his team offset the early deficit. He now has six touchdowns in two games.

On the ground, the Gamecocks proved that they have depth in the backfield. Despite leading rusher Brandon Wild’s measly 23-rushing-yard output, Pharoh Cooper, David Williams and Mike Davis churned out balanced production to give South Carolina a haul of 212 rushing yards, the most the team has had in four games this season.

Paired with the passing game run by Thompson, the Gamecocks are coming into the matchup against Missouri with a complete arsenal on offense, one that could afford to trade punches and keep the team in the thick of things even if their defense continues to disappoint. The Gamecocks are putting up 36.8 points per game, ranked 45th in the FBS.

As mentioned earlier, the Gamecocks’ defense has been easily abused by opponents. In their win against Georgia, however, the Gamecocks proved that there is life in their defense when they limited the high-scoring Bulldogs to just 35 points even if they gave up 408 yards of total offense.

Writer’s Prediction

The Gamecocks (-6) win in a close game over Missouri.
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