College Football Week 4 - Ole Miss vs. South Carolina

MISS has won its last eight games SU
MISS has covered its last six games
MISS has covered eight of its last nine road games
MISS has won five of its last six road games SU
MISS has lost 15 of its last 21 road games SU
SC has lost four of its last six games SU
SC has played five of its last seven games OVER the total
SC has won five of its last seven home games SU
SC has played four of its last six home games UNDER the total
MISS has won four of the last five meetings SU
Ole Miss had a game of it for a while with Memphis in the season opener, before pulling away in the fourth quarter. In the days following the game it became known that there was an outbreak of flu among team members. The Mississipi Rebels had a walk-through with Southeastern Missouri last week, but allowed 216 yards through the air.
South Carolina got very little going on offense in their opener, but its defense was double-tough as it beat North Carolina State 7-3. Then it was a wild one against Georgia in a 41-37 loss, and the Gamecocks covered, if just barely, in a 38-16 win over Florida Atlantic last week.
Stephen Garcia is a quarterback who came to south Carolina with a lot of pomp and circumstance, but hasn't been able to keep himself out of trouble off the field. Is he ready to make a move? Well, he has thrown for 535 yards over the last two games, and is spreading it around a little (four different receivers have 80 or more yards). Still, this is not an offense that is going to remind anyone of the Steve Spurrier juggernauts of old.
Jevan Snead came into the season as a guy who many thought could be a darkhorse contender for the Heisman. His stats are not bad (56%, 5 TD's) but there hasn't been the opportunity for a breakout yet. Maybe this is it, or maybe Snead, and the Rebels, are over-hyped. We'd think not, because Snead has much more at his disposal in the way of weaponry, especially with a decent running game headed by Brandon Bolden (eight yards a carry) ready to balance Snead, who can work against youngsters in the SC secondary.
It's very early in the schedule, obviously, but we're not willing at this time to buck a Rebel team that has not yet shown a reason it won't continue the momentum from its 6-0 finish in '08. Ole Miss has covered eight of its last nine on the road, and wants "revenge" from a 31-24 turnover-laden loss they suffered last year as they were still overcoming the shock of beating Florida. Truth be told, since he arrived in Columbia, Spurrier's teams have not been known to pull a lot of upsets. The SEC Rocks!