The South Carolina football team hosts SEC Eastern division rival Vanderbilt this weekend as they look to land their first conference win on the season. The Gamecocks have taken down the Commodores in 12 straight meetings dating back to 2009 and they’ll look to keep that streak alive to move a step closer to bowl eligibility.
This is maybe the last game of the season that will see the Gamecocks enter as favorites. At the time of this posting, South Carolina is favored to win by 18 points. That’s a slight drop from the opening line which was set at 18.5 points.
While bettors can easily lay some dough on the spread and the point total, which currently sits at 51 points, there are also a couple of prop bets to take a look at, too. Both involve the total points scored by each team.
Let’s check out the odds, as well as how to play each.
South Carolina football – UNDER 34.5 points
The Gamecocks’ total is set at just under five touchdowns, a high mark considering the team hasn’t reached the 24-point mark in any of their last five contests. South Carolina has shown a bit of improvement over the last couple of weeks, notching totals of 23 and 20 in consecutive matchups with Troy and Tennessee, but if you look more closely, even those numbers are deceiving.
All of South Carolina’s 20 points last week came in garbage time, with the Vols jumping out to a 35-0 lead in the first half. It’s also worth noting that two of the five touchdowns scored in those last two contests were by way of the defense and special teams units.
The Gamecocks’ offense has struggled to put points on its opposition all year long, and until they can prove otherwise, we’ll continue to take the under. That 34.5 point total seems high for this group even against a bad Vanderbilt defense.
Vanderbilt – UNDER 16 points
While the Gamecocks have been bad on offense, Vanderbilt has been even worse. The Commodores currently rank dead last in the country in scoring at just 13.3 points per game. They’ve been shut out twice by SEC foes and were held to just three points against FCS opponent East Tennessee State.
Pair that with the fact the South Carolina’s defense has been lights out against inferior opponents and this one seems sure to go under the 16-point total. The Gamecocks allowed totals of 0, 17, 16, and 14 to Easter Illinois, East Carolina, Kentucky, and Troy, all of whom possess more potent offensive units than Vanderbilt. Only Georgia and Tennessee have been able to successfully move the ball on this group, and a good deal of that is due to the offense’s inability to maintain drives and stay on the field.
At home this season, the Gamecocks are allowing just eight points a game and have surrendered just two touchdowns in three contests. Expect much of the same against the Commodores and take the under.
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