Kentucky Wildcats vs South Carolina Gamecocks Prediction, Odds and Preview - 09/25/2021

 

Game Time: 7:00 pm ET, Saturday, September 25, 2021

Venue:  Williams-Brice Stadium, Columbia, SC 

Where to Watch:  ESPN2

DraftKings:  Point Spread:  Kentucky -4.5, South Carolina +4.5; Over/Under:  48.5 points

Bet365:  Point Spread:  Kentucky -5, South Carolina +5; Over/Under:  48.5 points

BetMGM:  Point Spread:  Kentucky -5.5, South Carolina +5.5; Over/Under:  49 points

 

Kentucky Wildcats:  3-0 (2nd place, SEC East)

South Carolina Gamecocks:  2-1 (7th place, SEC East)

 

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Kentucky Wildcats:  won at home on Sep. 18 against the Chattanooga Mocs 28-23.

South Carolina Gamecocks:  lost on the road on Sep. 18 against the Georgia Bulldogs 40-13.

 

 

 

Kentucky is coming into this game with a 3-0 record overall and they are 1-0 when playing in conference games this season. This will be their 2nd conference game this year but it is also their 1st road game of the season after 3 straight games at home. Their 3 wins came against the ULM Warhawks, the Missouri Tigers, and the Chattanooga Mocs in their last game. They only came away with a 5 point win in that last game and Will Levis struggled in it as he completed 23/35 passes for 254 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 2 interceptions. Chris Rodriguez led the team in rushing with 46 yards on 13 carries but overall, they did not have much of a running game in that one. Wan'Dale Robinson had a nice day for the receiving corps as he led the team with 111 receiving yards on 8 receptions. Carrington Valentine led the defense with 7 solo tackles and 4 assisted ones. No one on the defense recorded a sack in that game but Tyrell Ajian came away with the only interception for his team. They have scored 108 points in their first 3 games and they have allowed their opponents to score 61 points against them. Their offense is averaging 480 YPG while their defense is allowing 275 YPG.

 

 

South Carolina is coming into this game with a 2-1 record overall and they are 0-1 when playing in conference games. They are also 1-0 in their home games this season where they will be in this conference matchup. They won their first 2 games of the season against the Eastern Illinois Panthers and the East Carolina Pirates but then they ran into a wall last week losing to the Georgia Bulldogs in their last game. Luke Doty struggled in that game as he completed 13/26 passes for 153 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception. They did not have much of a run game in that one as Kevin Harris led the team in rushing with 31 yards on 16 carries but Zaquandre White also had 31 yards on 5 carries. Josh Vann had a big day as he led the team in receiving with 128 yards and 1 touchdown on 3 receptions. R.J. Roderick led the defense with 4 solo tackles and 4 assisted ones. Damani Staley and Jaylan Foster both were right behind him with 4 solo tackles and 3 assisted ones each but it was Foster who came away with both interceptions for the team in that one. Jabari Ellis and Kingsley Enagbare both had the only sack combined for them in the game. They have scored 79 points in their first 3 games and they have allowed their opponents to score 57 points against them. Their offense is averaging 355.7 YPG while their defense is allowing 287.7 YPG.

 

Kentucky has surprisingly been scoring a lot of points on offense this season compared to some other years they have had recently. They have already played in 1 conference game this season and both teams scored 28 or more points in that game. South Carolina has not scored much themselves in their last 2 games but they have also had 1 conference game and that one had over 50 total points. The total for this game is set in the high 40's but this game will definitely hit over 50 points. Kentucky's offense will be able to move the ball on them well and score a lot of points here and South Carolina being at home is going to respond with points themselves. There will be scoring from both sides in this game so the best bet here is on the over.

 

Kentucky South Carolina Prediction:  Our NCAAF Pick for Saturday, September 25, 2021 (7:00 pm ET start time) is Kentucky 35 South Carolina 28.

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Kentucky Wildcats: 159-177 ATS in all games. 106-128 ATS against conference opponents.

South Carolina Gamecocks: 93-85 ATS as an underdog. 118-111 ATS against conference opponents.

 

 

Kentucky Wildcats:  J. Williams (DB) Ques Sat - Poss. Suspension. V. Tisdale (S) Ques Sat - Poss. Suspension. E. Sanders IV (WR) Ques Sat - Poss. Suspension.

South Carolina Gamecocks:  Z. Noland (QB) Prob Sat - Hand injury. X. Legette (WR) Ques Sat - Undisclosed injury. L. Doty (QB) Prob Sat - Foot injury.

 

 

Kentucky Wildcats: Will Levis is one player to watch in this one. He is the quarterback of this team and he is a very good player. Watch for him to lead his offense well in this game and put up a lot of points to get this win.

 

South Carolina Gamecocks: Josh Vann is one player to watch in this game. He leads his team in receiving yards and he is coming off of a big game last week. He is a big part of this offense so look for him to make some big catches down the field here.

 

"It all starts with preparation. and (Friday) we didn't have a good day of practice. You don't want to let that leak into today, but obviously it did. " - Will Levis on his team playing a bad game after a close win against Chattanooga.

 

 

"They're not doing anything special on defense. They're just really good. They line up and say, ‘We're better than you. Come beat us.'" - Shane Beamer after a loss to Georgia last week.

 

 

WR Ali, Josh 

WR Epps, Isaiah 

WR Robinson, Wan'Dale 

TE Rigg, Justin 

QB Levis, Will 

RB Rodriguez Jr., Chris  

 

WR Brooks, Jalen 

WR Joyner, Dakereon 

WR Vann, Josh 

TE Muse, Nick 

TE Bell, Jaheim 

QB Doty, Luke 

RB White, ZaQuandre 

 

Passing: W. Levis (800)

Rushing: C. Rodriguez Jr. (377)

Receiving: W. Robinson (337)

Touchdowns: C. Rodriguez Jr. (4)

Sacks: J. Weaver (3)

Tackles: D. Square (13)

 

Passing: Z. Noland (396)

Rushing: Z. White (167)

Receiving: J. Vann (271)

Touchdowns: J. Vann (3)

Sacks: K. Enagbare (2.5)

Tackles: C. Smith (10)

 

Coaches:

Kentucky Wildcats: Mark Stoops (9th season)

South Carolina Gamecocks: Shane Beamer (1st season)

 

73 degrees F partly cloudy, 55% humidity, 0% chance of rain, up to 5 mph wind speeds NW.