South Florida at Syracuse

It's hard to believe these two teams are a combined 7-7 in the conference, but such is life in the rugged SEC. This is an interesting match-up of opposites. South Carolina is the #1 stop unit vs. the pass, but has trouble stopping the run. Florida is good against the run, ranked 18th, but 80th vs. the pass, which is what SC does best. It appears to be a challenging game for the defenses. This is a much different team than we saw last season with Florida. The Gators played 14 games last season, and just three times did they allow an opponent to reach 20 points. This year's team has allowed 20 or more in each of the last eight! S. Carolina, after opening 6-1, has fallen on hard times dropping their last three. But, two of those losses were on the road. This is a game that SC will have no trouble getting up for. With former Gator coach Steve Spurrier at the helm, SC has always seemed to be ready to face Florida. Last year they had a 16-10 lead late on the road, and almost pulled off the shocker before falling by 1 point. Two years ago they soundly beat the Gators at home. Florida lost 10 of their top 12 tacklers from a year ago and it shows. If there's one thing at which Spurrier excels, it is putting together a pass oriented offensive attack. This is a perfect matchup to exploit the Gators' weaknesses. This is a bigger game for SC than it is for Florida, and playing at home, versus his old school, you can bet his Gamecocks will be fully energized. The home crowd will be lathered up as well. In a game that should go the wire, we like the lofty spread. Throw in the fact that the gators are a horrible 1-8 ATS as a road favorite under Urban Meyer, and we have a play on the Gamecocks.