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ECU vs. South Carolina Free Week 1 Preview & Pick (Sept. 3)

The East Carolina Pirates vs South Carolina Gamecocks will both be trying to pick up a win in Week 1 on Saturday when they battle at Bank of America Stadium. Odds have Gamecocks listed as 20½-point favorites the game’s total is 62.5…

Bet On College Football – ECU Pirates vs South Carolina Gamecocks Gambling Preview

South Carolina finally broke through in 2010 capturing the SEC East Division title and a berth in the title game (they lost of course).  

East Carolina Pirates vs South Carolina Gamecocks
Bank of America Stadium – Charlotte, North Carolina
Saturday September 3 – 7:00PM
Moneyline: South Carolina -1700, East Carolina +950
Spread (ATS): -20.5
Over/Under: 62.5
Odds courtesy of 5Dimes

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South Carolina

This team has superlative talent at a lot of positions with the primary weak spot being the most important position of all – quarterback.  They have talent there too with Stephen Garcia but the consistency and reliability have not developed in his time at South Carolina.  

He is the difference between a very good and possibly historic 2011 season.

On offense, the Gamecocks have a couple of scary playmakers in Marcus Lattimore and Alshon Jeffery.  Jeffery seems uncoverable and Lattimore is the rare college back that has superior amounts of both speed and power.  I expect Lattimore to be featured even more this season and the South Carolina offense should be in really good shape.  

Coach Steve Spurrier is not as gimmicky as he was with the Gators but he doesn’t have to be with these amazing physical talents.

On defense I am looking forward to seeing freshman phenom DE/OLB Jadeveon Clowney.  The story is that he has been unblockable in practice and with East Carolina primarily a passing team we should be able to see him come flying off the edge quite a bit.  The defense also has a superb corner in Stephen Gilmore.  

It will be interesting to see if they lock him up with Pirates burner Lance Lewis all game long.  Watching SC on defense is exciting as they really attack you.

East Carolina

It is amazing how much coach Ruffin McNeil changed things at ECU last year.  They averaged almost 10 more points per game than they did the season before after switching to a wide open aerial offense.  Unfortunately their defense was absolutely horrid, forcing the team to try and win shootout after shootout.  [soliloquy id=”82219″]

 They won half of them before getting embarrassed by Maryland in the Military Bowl.  At this point it is hard to tell if 2011 is going to be any different.

On offense not much should change.  Transfer QB Dominique Davis was superb last year and even though he lost his most prolific receiver in Dwayne Harris he has plenty of targets including Lance Lewis a fast 6’3” matchup nightmare (14 TDs last season).  Speaking of nightmares they are calling Justin Jones a WR even though he is 6’8” and weighs more than 260 pounds.  

He caught 5 TDs last year which was good for 3rd on the team and there will be plenty of opportunities for him to step up this season.  No one in the nation has a linebacker that big that I am aware of to cover him.

On defense there are players returning but that might not be a good thing.  They are changing their scheme to a 3-4 which is an interesting choice given they have little experience at linebacker.  Last year they gave up 227 yards per game on the ground and you can be sure South Carolina will feed Lattimore until they prove they can stop him.  

I fear that they answer will be they can’t.  The Pirates have won three straight openers but that streak is likely coming to an end.

ATS Pick:  ECU +20.5
Over/Under Pick:  Over 62.5
Score Prediction:  South Carolina 38 – East Carolina 28

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By The Wiesguy

The Wiesguy is a newcomer to the handicapping scene. Hailing from Toronto, Canada he is always sweet on the underdogs and you can often find his thoughts, musings and picks at moneydogs.blogspot.com.