Phil Steele Hates the Gamecocks, Chooses Vols

For the second game in a row, college football pundit Phil Steele has picked the South Carolina Gamecocks to lose.  He hates the garnet & black.  Just as his pick with the USC-MSU game went, let’s hope this pick has the same fate.

Here is what he writes:

#14 SOUTH CAROLINA AT TENNESSEE

Rushing Passing Points TO’s ST
SOUTH CAROLINA 127 198 24 2.0
TENNESSEE 104 228 20 2.9

Interesting series as Tenn has covered 2 straight and won 15 of 18 BUT they’ve been outgained 8 straight times. LY’s gm was tied 24-24 early 4Q before UT allowed a 70 yd TD pass and a 92/8pl TD drive. Brutal Tenn schedule as this is the final game of 4 str vs my top 4 SEC teams while SC is off a bye. Tenn LY at home vs Oreg, Florida and Bama at HT were tied, down 4 and down 3 but a lack of 2H depth led to them getting overrun in the 2H. The same thing has held true TY as they were tied 6-6 at HT to UGA ( lost 20-12) and were down just 17-7 to LSU 2 wks ago but were outscored 21-0 in the 2H. LW was no different as a spirited Vols squad was tied 6-6 at HT to Bama on the road but were outgained 280-41 in the 2H being outscored 31-0. Matt Simms is avg just 93 ypg (38%) and an 0-3 ratio in his 2 sts filling in for Bray but that was vs my #1 and 2 D’s (LSU/Bama). The Vols run gm which avg’d -15 ypg (-0.7) vs UF/UGA has avg’d a respectable 101 (3.2) vs those two elite D’s. SC still has the tie-breaker edge in the SEC East over UGA but lost their MVP in RB Lattimore (OFY knee) before the bye and will use a RB-by-committee to try and replace his 818 (5.0) production. QB Shaw will also carry more on his shoulders but after throwing for 311 yds (67%) with a 4-0 ratio vs UK he had just 155 yds (71%) with a 1-2 ratio in his 1st road start at Miss St. South Carolina has survived with 3 wins by 3 pts or less and while both teams have lost key ply’rs, no player in the SEC may be more important than RB Lattimore. The Vols pull the upset!

PHIL’S FORECAST: TENNESSEE 19 SOUTH CAROLINA 16

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Two-time grad of THE University of South Carolina.

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