I AM HUGE (1-0 YTD 100%) WEEK 1 PICKS AND ANALYSIS

Stanford covers easily.  2-0 on the week. 

Nice call on Stanford 

Nice call and good insight, good luck this week 

Looks great HUGE.!! Thanks for sharing.

South Carolina +2.5 UNC

It wasn’t long ago that EVERYONE was talking about Spencer Rattler.  He was the 2021 preseason Heisman favorite and popular No. 1 overall pick among NFL mock drafts.  He lost a couple of close games that year, threw a few picks and Caleb Willams was breathing down the back of his neck.  It was the secret sauce for disaster, but his talent never went away.  The dude showed up at the end of last season under Beamer JR ball at South Carolina and I’m willing to bet that, with maturity and experience,  he’s going to be lights out this season.  Now the spotlight is on him in  a rivalry game that will pit Rattler against Heisman contender Drake Maye.  Maye isn’t prepared for this hype.  Rattler is.  Maye will be playing against a good defense – the Gamecocks led the SEC with 15 interceptions last season.    Rattler’s receivers won’t even be covered. 

Rattler is not that far removed from NFL Draft performances – he threw for 438 yards and a school-record six touchdowns in last season’s upset of No. 5 Tennessee. Then, eschewing the hangover, put up 360 yards and two touchdowns in the Gamecocks’ first win over (No. 8) Clemson in nine years.    Rattler completed more than 72% of his passes against those two top teams.    Now he plays against the Tar Heels swiss cheese defense? Tar Heels defense finished last in the ACC in total defense (436 yards per game) and scoring defense (30.8 ppg).     Pffffft.

South Carolina’s leading receiver from last year, Antwane “Juice” Wells, is back and looking to build off his first-team All-SEC season (68 catches for 928 yards and six touchdowns).  South Carolina also brought in veteran SEC tight end Trey Knox who started 12 games for Arkansas last year.

When you think Beamer ball, you think special teams.  Kai Kroger led the SEC in punting and ranked fifth nationally while averaging 46.1 yards per punt, the second-best mark in South Carolina history. Eighteen of his 58 punts traveled 50 yards or more.  Kicker Mitch Jeter also is back for the Gamecocks after a strong junior season. Jeter converted all 11 of his field goal attempts.

When you look at momentum…South Carolina finished last season on a huge uptick.  The Tar Heels completely faded.  That included a home loss to Georgia Tech and a double-overtime loss to rival NC State. Clemson pounded the Tar Heels in the ACC Championship Game.   

When breaking down this game.  I rate the quarterbacks and coaches as even.  Special Teams leans hugely in favor of the Gamecocks.  The defensive edge is solid lean towards South Carolina.   This is not a home game for UNC, they are playing in Charlotte.  AND, South Carolina is getting points.  ACC vs. SEC?  Come on now!  I’m taking the points and the Gamecocks.

Spurs up! 

GL this  season @Last2thirst 

Shadeur Sanders heisman????

Temple wins but fails to cover.  Offense takes a knee in Akron territory at end of the game.  Temple played poorly in the first half giving up big plays.  The Owls got it together in the second half.  Too little too late. Stats bear out that Temple was the superior team.  

2-1 on the week. 

Army completely shits the bed when they had the game under control.  The new qb running the option was a complete fail.  5 turnovers by Army made it impossible to win against a suspect opponent.  

2-2 on the week.  

GL this season but your comment about Maye isn't prepared for the hype, a mile off. Too many people put  emphasis on "last year." It's a new season, different team. These first 2 weeks in college football are what I call learning weeks. Then we win money

I tip my hat to Gene Chizik.  The UNC defense was all over Spencer Rattler and he never had time to step up and throw.  The Gamecocks O line was not sound and literally couldn't pass block.  Gamecocks get embarrassed.  2-3 on the week.

3-3 on the season 50%

@iamhuge

 "New Season"

@mrusso

 Point taken. But the reason South Carolina lost wasn’t because of Maye’s prowess. They lost because their o-line couldn’t pass block. 

@iamhuge

 NC defense played better than they have in years. Was SC that bad or NC that good? Probably somewhere in the middle as we usually find out. Like I said the first two games of the season we learn, we win money after that. GL this season!

@mrusso

 There was something fundamentally unsound with the South Carolina pass protection....it wasn't necessarily physicality.  A lot of times, unblocked defenders were unaccounted for.  Should be something that's fixable with film study by other teams.  Having said that Spencer Rattler was "rattled" lol.  G'bye Heisman...and maybe NFL draft.  Thanks for the insight.

Not his fault.....his o line was very bad..

Played the O....thought it was a track meet...

Best O lineman got hurt on the first play...

Wells   WR  only played about 6 plays.....