Troy Trojans vs South Carolina Gamecocks Game Preview and Prediction - 10/02/2021

Game Time: 3:30 pm ET, Saturday, October 2, 2021

Venue:  Williams-Brice Stadium, Columbia, SC

Where to Watch:  SEC Network

DraftKings:  Point Spread:  Troy +6.5, South Carolina -6.5; Over/Under:  43.5 points

Bet365:  Point Spread:  Troy +6.5, South Carolina -6.5; Over/Under:  43.5 points

BetMGM:  Point Spread:  Troy +6.5, South Carolina -6.5; Over/Under:  43.5 points

 

Troy Trojans:  2-2 (4th place, Sun Belt Group A)

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

 

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Troy Trojans:  lost on the road on Sep. 25 against the LA-Monroe Warhawks 29-16.

South Carolina Gamecocks:  lost at home on Sep. 25 against the Kentucky Wildcats 16-10.

 

 

 

Troy is coming into this game with a 2-2 record overall and they are 1-1 in their road games this season where they will be in this game. This will be their last non-conference game of the regular season. Their 2 wins came against the Southern Jaguars and the Southern Miss Golden Eagles while their 2 losses came against the Liberty Flames and against ULM in their last game. Taylor Powell played well in that game even though they came up short as he completed 35/49 passes for 311 yards, 2 touchdowns and 1 interception. Kimani Vidal led their team in rushing with 60 yards on 12 carries but they did not really get much of a run game going. The receiving corps had an alright day as Reginald Todd led the receivers with 83 yards on 6 receptions while Luke Whittemore was right behind him with 72 yards and 1 touchdown on 2 receptions. Jabre Barber actually led the team in receptions in that game with 9 for 58 yards. Carlton Martial led the defense with 5 solo tackles and 7 assisted ones while Javon Solomon was right behind him with 4 solo tackles and 3 assisted ones and he also led the team in sacks that game with 2. He had the only 2 sacks for them in that game and no one on the defense had an interception. They have scored 105 points in their first 4 games and they have allowed their opponents to score 62 points against them. Their offense is averaging 344.5 YPG while their defense is allowing 243.5 YPG. 

 

 

South Carolina is coming into this game with a 2-2 record overall and they are 1-1 in their home games this season where they will be in this game. This will be their last non-conference matchup of the regular season as their full conference schedule starts the week after this one. Their season started off the right way with 2 wins over the Eastern Illinois Panthers and the East Carolina Pirates but that quickly took a turn for the worse as they have now lost 2 straight against the Georgia Bulldogs and UK in their last game. Luke Doty did not have a bad game in their last one but it was not a good game either as he completed 17/25 passes for 158 yards and 1 touchdown. They did not have a good running game at all as Kevin Harris led the way with 38 rushing yards on 12 carries. Jalen Brooks led the receivers with 63 yards and 1 touchdown on 4 receptions but other than him, no one else did much as a pass catcher. R.J. Roderick led the defense with 7 solo tackles and 3 assisted ones while Brad Johnson was right behind him with 6 solo tackles and 5 assisted ones. No one on the defense recorded a sack in that game but Jaylan Foster did come away with the only interception for his team in that one. They have scored 89 points in their first 4 games and they have allowed their opponents to score 73 points against them. Their offense is averaging 320.8 YPG while their defense is allowing 298.8 YPG.

 

Both of these teams have not been doing well on offense this year but they both do have some pretty good defenses that can keep each team in their games. In all 4 of Troy's games so far, there has been 1 team that did not score 20 points in each of those games. The same stat applies to South Carolina and in some of their games, neither team scored more than 20 points. Both offenses are going to struggle to score points here. On both sides, there is a bad offense going up against a good defense. This will be a low scoring game so the best bet to make here is on the under.

 

Troy South Carolina Prediction:  Our NCAAF Pick for Saturday, October 2, 2021 (3:30 pm ET start time) is South Carolina 17 Troy 13.

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Troy Trojans: 57-46 ATS as an underdog. 45-34 ATS as a road underdog. 72-57 ATS in road games. 

South Carolina Gamecocks: 86-92 ATS in home games. 77-81 ATS after playing 2 straight conference games. 123-137 O/U in all games. 41-51 O/U when the total is between 42.5 and 49. 55-62 O/U as a favorite. 

 

 

Troy Trojans:  None.

South Carolina Gamecocks:  R. Sandidge (DL) Ques Sat - Undisclosed injury. Z. Noland (QB) Ques Sat - Hand injury. X. Legette (WR) Prob Sat - Undisclosed injury.

 

 

Troy Trojans: Luke Whittemore is one player to watch here. He leads the team in receiving yards and he is coming off of a good game where had over 60 yards receiving. He will be looking to put up an even better game here against an SEC team so look for him to have a good game in this one and get involved in the offense more. 

 

South Carolina Gamecocks: Josh Vann is one player to watch in this game. He leads his team in receiving yards and in touchdowns scored this season. He had a very quiet game in their last one so look for him to get more involved here and make some big catches down the field and in the end zone. 

 

“We’ve got our hands full. But at the same time, it’s an exciting challenge for us. It’s something we look forward to here at Troy, getting the opportunity to play these Power 5 or SEC schools, and we’ll have to play very well to have the opportunity to win.” - Chip Lindsey on facing South Carolina in this game this week.

 

 

“You have to stick to the plan and just stay focused on the process. I’m not going to all of a sudden make rash decisions off of 4 games. We’re 4 games into Year 1, and we have a good plan for how we’re going to get this thing going. We’re still in September, have played 2 SEC games and 4 total. We’re not blowing up everything after 4 games. We’ve got good players, we’ve got good coaches and we’ve got to perform better.” - Shane Beamer on the rebuild process he is undergoing currently for the South Carolina program this season.

 

 

 

WR Todd, Reggie 

WR Whittemore, Luke 

WR Barber, Jabre 

WR Johnson, Tez 

TE Lewis, Deyunkrea 

QB Powell, Taylor 

RB Vidal, Kimani 

 

WR Brooks, Jalen 

WR Joyner, Dakereon 

WR Vann, Josh 

TE Muse, Nick 

TE Bell, Jaheim 

QB Doty, Luke 

RB White, ZaQuandre 

 

Passing: T. Powell (1008)

Rushing: K. Vidal (224)

Receiving: L. Whittemore (253)

Touchdowns: K. Vidal (2)

Sacks: J. Solomon (5.5)

Tackles: J. Solomon (12)

 

Passing: Z. Noland (396)

Rushing: Z. White (167)

Receiving: J. Vann (287)

Touchdowns: J. Vann (3)

Sacks: K. Enagbare (2.5)

Tackles: J. Foster (13)

 

Coaches:

Troy Trojans: Chip Lindsey (3rd season)

South Carolina Gamecocks: Shane Beamer (1st season)

 

83 degrees F partly cloudy, 65% humidity, 0% chance of rain, up to 4 mph wind speeds NE.