The South Carolina Gamecocks pulled off a huge upset over the No. 1 Georgia Bulldogs in 2019 but have gotten cooked in each meeting since. Every week, I’ll post my top college football picks by Monday and provide an update before each game — you can check out all of my college football Week 3 picks here. Let’s dig into today’s South Carolina-Georgia odds as we make our predictions and pick the best college football Week 3 bet!
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South Carolina-Georgia Pick & Betting Prediction | College Football Week 3
South Carolina-Georgia Betting Odds
Odds via FanDuel Sportsbook
South Carolina: +1600 | Georgia: -4500
South Carolina +27.5: -110 | Georgia -27.5: -110
Over 54.5: -105 | Under 54.5: -115
Expert: Isaiah Sirois
South Carolina-Georgia Pick & Prediction
The No. 1 Georgia Bulldogs will get a chance to bully the South Carolina Gamecocks between the hedges on Saturday. Although South Carolina handed Georgia one of the worst losses of the Kirby Smart era a few years back, this Gamecocks team has a glaring fundamental flaw: they do not have a rushing attack. South Carolina lost most of its running back room in the offseason and is yet to find a capable option at the position. The Gamecocks totaled -2 rushing yards on 31 attempts against UNC in Week 1. They then totaled 108 yards on 39 attempts against FCS Furman. With Georgia’s elite rushing defense on tap, don’t expect the Gamecocks to figure things out on the ground by Week 3.
Without a viable rushing attack, the Bulldogs will have to lean on quarterback Spencer Rattler, which bodes poorly for their chances. Rattler put together some big games last year, but let’s not forget what he did against Georgia. He completed 52% of his passes for 4.7 yards per attempt, no touchdowns and an interception, netting him a passing efficiency grade of 75.6. If that’s the best he could do in Columbia, imagine how much worse things will be in Athens against a Georgia defense that leads in the Fremeau Efficiency Index (FEI). Ball State recorded just 4 yards per pass attempt against them last week, and UT Martin recorded 3.9 a week before.
Of course, the Bulldogs won’t cover this spread just by beating up on Rattler and the South Carolina offense. They’ll also have to put some serious points on the board to win by four scores. Still, they beat the Gamecocks by 41 in Columbia last year as a 25.5-point favorite. Losing offensive studs like quarterback Stetson Bennett and tight end Darnell Washington hurts, but the Bulldogs are more than deep enough to make up for their departures, especially when they only have to outscore a one-dimensional South Carolina offense.
There is some risk of a backdoor cover with a spread this wide, but it should probably be at least a field goal wider. The Bulldogs won five of last year’s regular-season games by at least 28 points, including their first three games of the year. Their slow pace and run-heavy offense make winning by massive margins difficult, but it also limits the chances opposing offenses will have to put late-game points on the board. Georgia allowed the third-fewest fourth-quarter points last year (3.8) and the 17th-fewest a year before (4.8).
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The 27.5-point spread hasn’t budged since the early week column went live, so you could still buy this number as of Friday. Pregame reports that 53% of the cash has come in on the Bulldogs on 63% of the tickets, so the public is eager to back the Dawgs in this spot. Still, it’s worth noting that Pinnacle, a sharp book, has this spread up to 28. The Gamecocks haven’t kept a game against the Bulldogs within 27.5 since their upset win in 2019, and I don’t expect that trend to change anytime soon.
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South Carolina-Georgia Week 3 Pick: Georgia -27.5 -110 at BetMGM
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