Hi guys, I learn from many of you on this forum. I want to begin contributing. Here are my thoughts on Week 1 College Football.
South Carolina -29.5 vs Coastal Carolina +29.5 (-110). I'm picking Coastal Carolina to beat the spread (not to win, of course) (at USCe early kickoff - 12 pm EST)
Last time South Carolina (USCe) won by 30 was 2014 vs Furman, an FCS team, under Steve Spurrier. Coach Will Muschamp is not an offensive minded coach. South Carolina will have to put up 40 points to beat the spread. USCe put up 40 only once last year (against Arkansas).
South Carolina has 14 starters coming back, including QB. CC has 12 starters coming back, not the QB. However, the backup QB played in 6 games getting some good reps. I predict that he'll improve this year (see why below).
USCe is going to be installing a revised offense under new OC - slowing them down for Week 1 IMO.
USCe was in bottom of the pack in offense (24 ppg - 100th in scoring; 109th in yards) in 2017. I don't see why that would improve "dramatically."
CC was middle - back of the pack in offense & defense as well. However, here's why that will improve this year:
The HC, Joe Moglia, was out last year due to illness. He's an excellent HC with a 51-15 record and will be back this year.
The real question is: Can CC score 17 points (as I don't believe USCe can get to 47+)?
Most RB & WR production is back for CC. The O-Line has 5 previous starters (4 from last year back), with an additional 3 that have played for depth. All of them are 300+ lbs (except 1). OC, Chadwell ran 70% of the time at previous HC stop which shows me they want to control time of possession -- thus, limiting USCe to possessions and scoring.
USCe's offense struggle last year overall. They were poor on 3rd downs & the QB threw a lot of interceptions (12).
Coaching: Edge Will Muschamp but CC coach is no slouch.
Emotion: Edge to CC as these are players that got passed up by USCe. This is their biggest game of the year. The HC will be fired up to return, too.
Focus: Edge to CC as USCe plays Georgia next week. Could be overlooking CC.
Prediction: USCe - 38 CC - 14