Georgia vs. South Carolina Total Pick
The Georgia Bulldogs and South Carolina Gamecocks opened their seasons with victories last week but will face a much stiffer challenge when the SEC foes meet at 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday. Is the betting total set too low for a potential shootout?
Game Snapshot
347 Georgia Bulldogs vs. 348 South Carolina Gamecocks
3:30 p.m. ET, Saturday, September 8, 2018
Williams-Brice Stadium, Columbia, South Carolina
Public Betting Trends
According to oddsmakers from online sports book BetNow.eu, the Bulldogs are 10-point favorites to beat the Gamecocks. The total, meanwhile, sits at 55 points. As of this writing, 54% of the public betting tickets wagered on this matchup are on the Bulldogs.
Georgia Bulldogs
Georgia sophomore QB Jake Fromm completed 12-of-16 passes for 157 yards and two touchdowns in a 45-0 rout of Austin Peay on Saturday. Fromm didn’t have to do much in this one, but when he did get a chance to throw, he was accurate with the football and on time, which is no surprise to anyone who watched the sophomore in 2017. He found Riley Ridley for a 10-yard dart in the first , and a quarter later he found Mecole Hardman for a 59-yard score to make it 27-0 Bulldogs. Fromm has Justin Fields staring directly at him — and Fields looked good in his limited time — but Fromm certainly did enough to justify him as a starting signal-caller. We’ll see the 6-foot-2, 225-pound gunslinger again next Saturday against South Carolina.
South Carolina Gamecocks
South Carolina junior QB Jake Bentley completed 16-of-21 passes for 182 yards and four touchdowns in Saturday’s 49-15 win over Coastal Carolina. Three of Bentley’s touchdown passes came in the first half as the Gamecocks worked out to a 28-3 halftime lead. He tossed one more — to Deebo Samuel — in the third quarter before calling it a day on the scoreboard. The South Carolina signal-caller is looking to take a developmental step forward this year as SC tries for a legitimate push toward a conference title-game showing. We view this as HC Will Muschamp’s best team since taking over two years back. They’ll face their first big challenge of the year next weekend, when Georgia comes to town.
Betting Trends
Georgia
The under is 10-1 in the Bulldogs’ last 11 games played in September.
South Carolina
The under is 14-4 in the Gamecocks’ last 18 conference games.
Prediction
The Bulldogs showed off plenty of new firepower last week in rolling past Austin Peay 45-0 last Saturday. Jake Fromm threw two touchdown passes while splitting time with freshman Justin Fields. Fromm connected on a 59-yard touchdown pass with Mecole Hardman while running back Demetris Robertson scored on a 72-yard run. James Cook also had runs of 36 and 26 yards in the second half as UGA racked up big plays. Meanwhile, South Carolina talked all offseason about generating an up-tempo offense and the Gamecocks flashed that speed a week ago in their victory over Coastal Carolina. That speed should create plenty of scoring opportunities for South Carolina on Saturday but also for Georgia, which could put its offense on the field by forcing quick three-and-outs against the Gamecocks. I see this game being high-scoring.
College Football Prediction: Georgia/South Carolina over 56.5