South Carolina vs NC State

South Carolina vs. NC State

In about 5hours the college football season will…well…kick off, and one of the first games for the college football championship series is a neighborhood brawl between South Carolina and NC State. A good ole’ clash between the ACC and the SEC.

Now if this battle was based on conferences, then the ACC would be severely lacking in power, meaning NC State would be in for a world of hurt, but South Carolina wasn’t exactly on the top ten list last year either. This is a key game, even though the first of the year. Lets look at both and see what they’re about:

The South Carolina Gamecocks finished last year 7-6, just a sliver above the .500 mark, which is indeed an accomplishment in the SEC. Let’s face it folks this was one of the two toughest conferences in the nation, and Steve Spurrier did a good job to come out with a winning record. They won conference games against Arkansas and Tennessee, but some may argue that those were home games…you are supposed to win those. But they also had away games vs. Mississippi and Kentucky.

And oh by the way, they beat NC State last year, 34-0.

The knock on the Gamecocks was that they were one of the worst rushing teams in Division I and was near the bottom in scoring, averaging about 20 points a game. In fact they seemed to be doing pretty well, beating Tennessee by 21, then followed it up with a win over Arkansas by 13, but the bottom fell out when they lost big to Florida 56-6, then to Clemson 31-14, and ended the season in a bowl, losing to Iowa 31-10. The fans down in South Carolina expect a better record from the old ball coach.

The NC State Wolfpack comes off a rough season, winning only 6 games last year and losing 7. This is a team that has been trying to “turn that corner” for years, and has not had a lot of success doing so. What’s interesting is that they won’t be playing ECU, as it has always been a huge matchup in the state. But you look at they schedule they had last year and you wonder if they can turn the corner this year as well.

They lost the first game last year to South Carolina in a shutout, 34-0, then ran into some problems after beating William & Mary. But they salvaged the season by winning 4 straight games. Beating Duke, Wake Forest, UNC and Miami in good form helped them to a bowl, where they lost to Rutgers in a close game. Some say the Wolfpack just might be the team to watch. With their schedule including Murray State and Gardner-Webb after the South Carolina game, it’s quite possible they could be 2-1 before they see Pittsburgh. With a lot of home games, and games inside North Carolina, this could be in interesting team to watch.

So having said all this, who has the advantage?

All things being equal, to me the edge still stands with South Carolina, but I won’t put that much on that. True, South Carolina crushed the Wolfpack last year, and I will not argue the strength of the SEC to the ACC. But the Gamecocks had one of the weakest offensive units in Division I, not that the Wolfpack was so much better. It’s going to come down to coaching power, and Steve Spurrier is one of the best. Granted Tom O’Brien is good, having coached at Boston College, but NC State still has some work to do in order to be considered a legit top 25.

I think this will be an interesting game to watch (and I will be watching) but I see South Carolina winning this by 10 points. I have to imagine that SC knows they need to work on offense because it will make or break their season. Both teams would love to see the post season, and tonight is the first step in seeing that.

Hope you guys enjoy the game!