College Football Betting: South Carolina at Georgia Preview

The Georgia Bulldogs do not want to be taken down at home. (Wikimedia Image)"]

A year ago at this time, Mark Richt's Georgia Bulldogs were the No. 2 team in the country heading into a game with South Carolina and obviously expecting to be in the national championship mix.

Fast forward to a year later and Saturday's game against South Carolina, and the No. 21 Dawgs could fall out of the polls entirely if they don't avoid a home upset to the Gamecocks, who are 7-point underdogs on Bodog.

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Georgia was game but overmatched last week in Oklahoma State. The Dawgs have not started 0-2 since 1996 – which is the last time the school failed to reach a bowl game. Unfortunately for UGa, their one quarterback with experience is having all sorts of issues. That would be Joe Cox, who was just 15-for-30 for 162 yards with a touchdown and interception last week.

Cox was playing through the flu last week and just recently regained his appetite but has lost nine pounds. Now comes word that Cox is playing through nerve problems in his shoulder. The senior obviously wants to stay on the field, as he had to sit and watch for three years behind Matthew Stafford, but is he hurting the team? There already had been rumblings that the Dawgs might turn to backup Logan Gray, but Cox is going to start this week – it might be his last chance.

There are two other key Georgia players dealing with injuries. One is running back Caleb King, who once was expected to be the starter. He has a hamstring problem and didn't play last week. King is officially questionable this week. The other is starting left tackle Trinton Sturdivant, who suffered a season-ending knee injury last week against Oklahoma State. It's a tough break, as he missed all of the 2008 season with an injury as well. Needless to say, all these ailments won't help an offense that managed only 177 yards and three points after its first drive against OSU.

As for South Carolina, offense also seems to be a problem. The Gamecocks only managed seven points in their opener but beat N.C. State, 7-3, holding the Wolfpack to 133 yards. That seven-point output was only the 21st time in Steve Spurrier's coaching career in which his offense scored seven points or fewer. It was the first time he ever won a game coaching when his team was held to seven points or fewer.

Spurrier, the former quarterback guru, is banking on improvement from sophomore Stephen Garcia, who was just 13 of 22 for 148 yards with one interception and three sacks. South Carolina, the same team that was last in the SEC in rushing last year, rushed for just 108 against the Wolfpack.

So expect points to be at a premium on Saturday. Only once this decade in this series has either team scored more than 21 points. Georgia won 14-7 last year, but South Carolina won in Athens in 2007, 16-12.

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