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This should me a great match up between South Carolins and Navy. Boy you couldn’t have two more different ball clubs. South Carolina has the power running of Marcus Lattimore and play action passes against the Navy triple action attack.

The oddsmakers have South Carolina as a 17 point favorite but a lot of older fans remember 1984 when Navy upset a then undefeated South Carolina team that was 9-0 and just a win away from being ranked number one.

But this is a different year and two entirely different ballclubs. Still I ain’t buying the 17 points. Navy has a way of hanging around against teams with much better talent than they have. The Midshipmen will be missing two starting LBs that are out because of injury.

They are magicians at pulling the major upset. See the video below to see a perfectly run Navy option. Notice the wideouts blocking downfield. Carolina DBs must defend against this.

5 Reasons Navy Could Cover The Spread

1. Navy does not make stupid mistakes like jumping offsides.

2. They are not intimadted playing in front of hostile crowds. They make a living doing that.

3. The South Carolina DBs have shown they are not very good tacklers. If the Navy option attack can get their running backs past the defensive line which they will a few times they can break tackles and make some big gains against the Gamecock secondary.

4. To defend the triple option you must have discipline on defense. Carolina has great athletes that like to fly around and try to make make big hits. If they get caught out of position that could mean big plays for Navy.

5. Navy only averages about 7 passes a game. If the Carolina DBs get caught cheating in trying to blow up a running back like they always do look for Navy to have at least one long touchdown pass. Hopefully the Gamecocks will keep it to one TD pass.

But right now I don’t have much faith in the USC secondary. They are not physical and don’t tackle very well.

On the other hand the Gamecock defensive line could totally dominate this game and make up for the mistake prone secondary.

If they can do this and disrupt the option by stopping the fullback and getting to the QB before he can make his reads they could hold Navy to few points if any.

But being Navy I look for them to have a couple of time consuming drives and keep the game close. QB Stephen Garcia needs to get untracked this game. Some of the receivers other than Alshon Jeffery need to step up and get open.

It’s hard to get open when you are loafing down the field like some of their recievers have a tendancy to do. They look like they don’t expect to get the ball so why go at a 100%? If a few of these upperclassmen don’t pick up their game this week then maybe it’s time to try a few of these talented freshmen WRs and see what they can do. I kmow they want to redshirt them but hey this is supposed to be the year the Gamecocks make a run at the SEC title.

You need 22 players going all out on every play. Unfortunately there are no backups to replace the DBs. They just have to get better real fast. Getting Vic Hampton back in a week or two will help if he can stay eligible. The Gamecocks need Akeem Auguste in their bad. He will sit out this week and try to get that bad foot to heal. I understand Brison Williams got his cast off this week and he may be back in a few weeks if the doctors give him the go ahead. The coaches wanted to redshirt him but the defensive backfield is playing so poorly they are trying to shore it up anyway they can.

Having said all that I look for Carolina to win by about 2 touchdowns but I would not be surprised at all to see Navy hang in there until the 4th quarter. But unlike 1984 this Gamecock team will pull out a victory.