Moving on in Week 9 of the NCAA Football Regular Season we find 2 more SEC rivals playing this Saturday the 31st of October 2015 with the 2-4 Gamecocks of South Carolina (SEC East 1-4) playing at rival 5-2 Aggies of Texas A&M (SEC West 2-2) with the game being played at Kyle Field in College Station, Texas with kick-off scheduled for 12:05 PM ET and seen on ESPN TV.
No the Gamecocks no longer have Coach S. Spurrier, but they have taken to his ways of winning that he schooled his students, as in Week 7 they beat Vanderbilt 19-10 which was the 1st game since Coach Spurrier retired. Week 8 was a bye week for the Gamecock, and the Aggies lost to Ole Miss in a difficult game 23-3 this past Saturday.
If you are a fan of the Gamecocks of South Carolina and Bet on College Football at SBG Global .com you know your teams offense was firing on all cylinders in Wee7 as the beat the Commodores of Vanderbilt. Their WR P. Cooper was hot as he had 7 receptions for 162 yards, 1 of which was a 78 yard run for a TD. Also RB B. Wilds had 120yards rushing on some 25 carries, while QB P. Orth passed for 274 yards and 1 TD, and that happened to be the only TD in the game.
For the South Carolina and Orth to get their passing game going could be difficult against the Aggies since their passing defense is one of the better in the SEC, as they have only allowed their opponents some 192 yard passing each game. But some holes in their defense appeared against Ole Miss as their QB Kelly passed for 2 touchdowns and 242 yards in that game last Saturday.
The Gamecocks will more than likely adjust their game plans to have QB Orth passing more, and after a bye week South Carolina has been tough to beat. Since 2010 they had 13 games after bye weeks and won 11 of those games. Also offensively the Gamecocks can use RB Wilds strong running game to beat the Aggies in their weakest spot as defending against the rush. In the games to date this season the Aggies have allowed opponents some 200 plus yards rushing each game and 10 touchdowns from the rushing game to date.
The Gamecocks have a duo of capable RB’s in Wild who has had 59 carries for 300 yards to date, while Williams has 45 carries for 299 yards. If South Carolina is going to win this game they need to do it via their running game.
Defensively the team leans heavily on LB S. Moore who against Vanderbilt he was everywhere, with an interceptions, 1 sack, 1 recovered fumble, forced another fumble and was the leading tackler with 11. He will be assisted by linemen D. Sawyer and M. Lewis who on the pass rush, respectively have 2.5 and 2 sacks. South Carolina in their ultimate 7 road games has 2 wins and 5 losses against the spread.
If you’re a fan of the Aggies of Texas A&M you probably are disappointed with your team that has struggled in their last 2 games after winning the 1st 5 games of this 2015 season. Yes they got buried by Alabama 41-23 then Ole Miss at 23-3 in 2 consecutive week losses. Some say this may be a breather as they play the struggling Gamecocks of South Carolina.
The Aggies QB K. Allen did not perform well as he only completed 12 of his 34 passes for 87 yards and 1 interception. They put in back-up QB J. Hubenak in the 4th quarter when the game was all but over. In this game QB Allen will face a fair Gamecock passing defense that has allowed some 215 yards passing each game to their opponents. So QB Kelly should have a comeback game against South Carolina in this home game.
QB Kelly will need top performances from his WR’s who in Week 8 struggled. WR C. Kirk leads the receivers with 4 touchdowns and accumulated 626 yards on 41 receptions. Against Ole Miss he only managed to catch 2 passes for 18 yards. 2nd on the team in receiving is J. Reynolds who has 460 yards in receptions and 3 TD and he only managed 3 receptions for 20 yards in the loss to Ole Miss.
To win this game against the Gamecocks, the Aggies need to dominate the game by a top running game performance, with lead RB T. Carson who this season has some 123 carries for 525 yards and 4 touchdowns. They can thrive running the ball since the Gamecocks have been allowing opponents to over 200 yards per game on the rush, and that ranks at the bottom in the SEC.
To win the Aggies will be seeking to force some costly turnovers from the Gamecocks QB P. Orth, as the Aggies defense in the game against Ole Miss made 3 interceptions. In their ultimate 6 home games the Aggies have 4 wins and 2 losses against the spread.
The online betting prediction for this game is that it will be a very tough game with the Aggies of Texas A&M barely outscoring the Gamecocks of South Carolina for the win at home!