Papa John's Bowl Betting

Opening Line: Gamecocks -4.5 / Huskies +4.5 O/U 51.5
Time: 2 PM EST Saturday January 2, 2010 on ESPN

by Marasoft.com Staff

This is the first match up ever of the Connecticut Huskies and the South Carolina Gamecocks, as they face each other in the PapaJohn's.com Bowl. After losing 3 straight close games after the murder of defensive player Jasper Howard the Huskies regrouped and won their last 3 games. UCONN was 0-3 against teams ranked in the top 25 this season. South Carolina did win their season finale, but they had lost their previous 3 games. The Gamecocks played a killer schedule this season playing 5 ranked teams and in those games they went 2-3. This game features the solid offense of the Huskies taking on the tough defense of the Gamecocks.

This season both teams were legit against the spread, as South Carolina was 7-4 ATS and Connecticut was 9-2 ATS.

In their last games of the season the Gamecocks beat Clemson 34-17 and the Huskies beat South Florida 29-27.

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Connecticut and their 47th ranked defense is led by QB Zach Frazer (1,354 yds 9 TD 9 INT). He does have a big play WR in Marcus Easley (44 rec 853 yds 8 TD), who averaged over 19 yards per reception this season, but for the Huskies to win this game they will need to run the ball. UCONN's rushing offense is ranked 41st in the nation, but they have one of the best RB tandems in Jordan Todman (1,201 yds 14 TD) and Andre Dixon (988 yds 13 TD). The USC defense ranks 15th in the nation and, unfortunately for them, they are better at defending the pass than the run. Since the Gamecocks only rank 98th in the nation in scoring they may have to win this game with their defense.

South Carolina has the nation's 76th ranked defense, but they are much better with their passing offense led by QB Stephen Garcia (2,733 yds 17 TD 9 INT). His main target is a possible superstar in freshman WR Alshon Jeffery (43 rec 735 yds 6 TD), who averaged just over 17 yards per reception this season. Garcia may have to shoulder the offensive load, as the USC ground attack ranked dead last in the SEC this season with 1,860 rushing yards. The UCONN defense ranks 72nd in the nation and their pass defense only ranks 94th in the nation.

The Huskies are 6-2 in their last 8 games and the total has gone Under in 4 of the last 6 games for the Gamecocks.

The Marasoft Pick: Under