Week 1: South Carolina vs Georgia State 9/3/22 College Football Picks, Predictions, Odds

The South Carolina Gamecocks and Georgia State Panthers square off Saturday in week 1 college football action from Williams-Brice Stadium.

The Georgia State Panthers will try to keep the positive vibes going forward after a great season in 2021, with the Panthers finishing 8-5 overall including a 6-2 mark in Sun Belt conference play and an invite to the Camellia Bowl, a game that the Panthers won by routing Ball State by a final score of 51-20. Darren Grainger is back as the dual-threat QB for the Panthers after throwing for 1,715 yards, 19 touchdowns and just 4 INTs while also rushing for 646 yards and 3 scores. Tucker Gregg leads the Panthers’ ground attack once again after putting up a team-high 953 yards while Jamyest Williams will be a familiar face to the Gamecocks having transferred over from South Carolina after rushing for 6.7 yards per carry and 9 TDs last season. The Panthers did lose Sam Pinckney from the receiving group, but still have Jamari Thrash in the fold after logging a team-high 32 catches and Aubrey Payne had a team-high 7 scores and is back for the Panthers as well. On defense, Blake Carroll and Jordan Veneziale are back after combining for 186 tackles as the top two Panthers in that category last season while Jamil Muhammad had a team-high 6 sacks last year. The Panthers also have a deep secondary led by Antavious Lane that can make plays, it’ll just be a matter of GSU getting third down stops this season.

The South Carolina Gamecocks will hope to build on a successful 2021 season by their recent standards, finishing at 7-6 overall including a 3-5 mark in SEC play in Shane Beamer’s first season in charge in Columbia. The Gamecocks were invited to the Duke’s Mayo Bowl, a game they won by a final count of 38-21 over North Carolina. The Gamecocks got a big lift in the QB department by bringing in former Oklahoma pivot Spencer Rattler, who threw for over 4,000 yards, 40 touchdowns and just 12 interceptions with a 70.1% completion percentage in his time at Oklahoma over two plus years. Luke Doty, the QB who led South Carolina last year, will shift to a backup role, but Gamecock fans will take comfort knowing that he’s capable and the team is in good hands considering he’s done it before if called upon. The Gamecocks’ running backs will be a group to watch, with Marshawn Lloyd and Juju McDowell leading the charge as the returning guys and Christian Beal-smith transfers in from Wake Forest as another capable RB in the fold for the Gamecocks. For the receivers, Josh Vann is back after logging a team-high 43 grabs while Dakereon Joyner and Jaheim Bell are familiar faces as well. However, the big gets for that group are former Sooner TE Austin Stogner and Antwane Wells, a machine from FCS James Madison who logged 116 catches, 1,853 yards and 21 touchdowns for the Dukes. On defense, Jordan Strachan will be a familiar face for the Panthers after transferring to Columbia from Georgia State last season and Zacch Pickens is more than capable of leading the pass rush. Brad Johnson is back at LB for South Carolina after logging the 2^nd-most tackles in 2021 with 74 while Devonni Reed transfers into South Carolina’s secondary as a two-time all-MAC selection. RJ Roderick and Cam Smith make up another pair of strong pieces in the South Carolina defense.

Georgia State is 4-0 ATS in their last 4 games against the SEC and 6-0 ATS in their last 6 road games while the over is 7-1 in their last 8 non-conference games. South Carolina is 5-1 ATS in their last 6 games against the Sun Belt and 3-1-2 ATS in their last 6 games in September while the under is 12-4 in their last 16 home games.

I get why you’d look Georgia State’s way here as they gave Auburn all they could handle last season in a tough environment. However, South Carolina overhauled in a major way and got some major upgrades to a team that was already in decent shape last year. I just think this is one of those spots where as good as Georgia State’s shown they can be and they can hang with the big boys, South Carolina here will be that much better and I’ll lay the points with the Gamecocks in a game I see South Carolina winning by two scores.