South Carolina vs. A&M Spread Pick
Following a victory last week over Kentucky in overtime, Texas A&M hits the road in Week 7 and will square off against South Carolina at 3:30 p.m. ET. Will the Gamecocks pull off the small upset?
Game Snapshot
121 Texas A&M Aggies at 122 South Carolina Gamecocks
3:30 p.m. ET, Saturday, October 13, 2018
Williams-Brice Stadium, Columbia, South Carolina
Public Betting Trends
According to oddsmakers from online sports book BetNow.eu, the Aggies are 2.5-point favorites to beat the Gamecocks. The total, meanwhile, sits at 52 points. As of this writing, 68% of the public betting tickets wagered on this matchup are on the Aggies.
Texas A&M Aggies
Texas A&M sophomore QB Kellen Mond completed 18-of-29 passes for 226 yards and two touchdowns with one interception in Saturday’s 20-14 overtime win over Kentucky. Texas A&M and Kentucky went into overtime at 14-14. Kentucky missed the opening field goal and Williams ran a couple times before finding the end zone for the win. Mond (6’2/210) wasn’t overly sharp — his 46 yard touchdown came on a tipped pass that Sternberger took to the house — but it was still enough to get the win over a quality Kentucky team. The sophomore will carry a mediocre 9/5 TD/INT ratio into next week’s game against South Carolina.
South Carolina Gamecocks
South Carolina junior QB Jake Bentley (knee) expects to start Saturday against Texas A&M. Bentley told reporters Tuesday that he’s experiencing no lingering effects from the Grade 1 MCL sprain he suffered against Kentucky. Bentley was full-go at Tuesday’s practice, though he does expect to wear a knee brace if he plays on Saturday. “As long as I’m ready to go, that’s the plan,” Bentley said. “And Mike’s going to be ready to go.” Bentley is referring to his backup, Michael Scarnecchia. HC Will Muschamp has said that Bentley will start if he’s healthy.
Betting Trends
Texas A&M
The Aggies are 6-1 against the spread in their last seven games and are 5-1 against the number in their last six road games.
South Carolina
The Gamecocks are 9-3-3 against the number in their last 15 conference games.
Prediction
This one feels like a trap. South Carolina is getting quarterback Jake Bentley back this week but he wasn’t playing well before missing last week’s victory over Missouri. Speaking of that win, South Carolina was out-gained by Mizzou and had a worst yards-per-play average but basically won because the Tigers shot themselves in the foot all game. Something isn’t right about this A&M line though and with the Aggies winning a hard-fought game against Kentucky last week I think they get caught sleepwalking through this one.
College Football Prediction: South Carolina Gamecocks +2.5