Saturday, September 10, 2022
South Carolina vs. Arkansas (NCAAF) - 12:00 PM EDT Premium Pick
Pick: Point Spread: -9/-110 Arkansas Rating: 9* Mike's SEC Game Of The Week (WIN)
Shane Beamer (son of former Va. Tech HC Frank Beamer) enters his 2nd season (7-6 overall) @ SC after being under Lincoln Riley @ Oklahoma as Asst. HC/TE Coach. I feel this team is still in transition & last week's 35-14 win over Georgia State is a little deceiving since the Gamecocks got 2 special team TD's on blocked punts. I'm not a believer of ex-Oklahoma now South Carolina QB Spencer Rattler (23-for-37 for 227 yards, 4 rushes for -12 yards) who threw for 1 TD but was picked off twice by Shawn Elliott's Panthers last week. SC struggled to run the ball & protect Rattler in that game. On the flip side of the coin we have HC Sam Pittman who radically changed the culture in Hog Country. After back-to-back 2-10 seasons, Pittman took over & went a competitive 3-7 in a pandemically-challenged season in 20'. He quickly came back strong last season going 9-4 with a 20-10 win over Texas A&M in Arlington, then beat LSU on the road in OT 16-13, took Alabama to the end on the road before losing 42-35 & throttled Penn State 24-10 in the Outback Bowl. He has 4 dangerous playmakers this season led by QB K.J. Jefferson (285 yards & 4 TD's, 3/0 TD/INT ratio last week in a 31-24 win over last season's Final 4 entry Cincinnati), RB Raheim Sanders (117 yards rushing, 5.8 YPC in that game), WR Jadon Haselwood (1 receiving TD) & TE Trey Knox (75 receiving yards & 2 TD's). My bottom line says Jefferson has a good offensive line & should have time to burn a vulnerable SC secondary. Motivation won't be lacking since the Razorbacks lost in Columbia 48-22 the last time in this series when they were victimized by 3 defensive TD's. The dagger has to be revealing the Gamecocks' 1-10 SU & 3-8 spread record when taking it to the SEC road. Pittman has gone 8-4 SU @ home in his first 2 seasons. Let's go to Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium for a strong play on the ARKANSAS RAZORBACKS (buying to - 5 1/2) as my 9 Star SEC Game of The Week!
Mike Handzelek's 2022-23 CFB Overall Record: 2-1 for 67% 2-0 on Sides 0-1 on Parlays
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