Five Predictions For USC-Miss. State Game
posted by Scott Hood on Friday, September 28, 2007
1. Chris Smelley Will Throw For More Than 175 Yards: When he does, he’ll sustain a trend that’s developed over his first four career games. His passing yardage has increased with each outing. He threw for 48 yards in his USC debut in last season’s opener at Mississippi State. He followed that up a week later with 64 passing yards against Georgia. This year, he had 101 yards in the win over Louisiana-Lafayette and 174 yards at LSU last week. That’s the kind of progression Steve Spurrier is looking for. Smelley played well in Baton Rouge against one of the best defenses in the country. The Mississippi State pass defense is third-best in the SEC but it doesn’t have the number of athletes the Tigers have.
2. Emanuel Cook Will Have At Least 12 Tackles: Mississippi State is the perfect team for Cook to showcase his immense tackling skills. The Bulldogs don’t throw it very often. Instead, they rely on a solid running game featuring Anthony Dixon, a 240-pound sophomore. As a result, look for Cook to spend a lot of time up close to the line of scrimmage in run support. Cook is aggressive and fearless. He’ll mix it up with physically larger players. If MSU decides to try to establish the run, Cook’s name will called early and often.
3. Either Cory Boyd or Mike Davis Will Gain 100 Yards: What’s special about that? The Mississippi State defense hasn’t allowed a 100-yarder in 10 games. And that includes a meeting with Darren McFadden and Arkansas last year. The impressive streak dates back to a Week 6 game against West Virginia last season. Boyd and Davis, along with the offensive line, are eager to make up for last week’s embarrassing performance against LSU when the Gamecocks finished with 17 net rushing yards on 27 attempts.
4. No Pick-Six For The MSU Defense: The Mississippi State has an interesting stretch going. In the last three games, the MSU secondary has returned an interception for a first-quarter touchdown on the opponents’ initial possession of the game. That’s a new school record for the Bulldogs. Steve Spurrier is well aware of what the MSU secondary has accomplished in the streak. Chris Smelley is as good if not better than any QB the Bulldogs have faced over the last three weeks. Spurrier will probably stay conservative in his early play-calling to keep Smelley out of danger.
5. The USC-Kentucky Hype Will Start Quickly: With the USC-Kentucky game scheduled for Thursday night at Williams-Brice Stadium, Spurrier should expect plenty of questions about the Wildcats in his post-game press conference. Kentucky is No. 14 in this week’s AP poll. The contest is being billed as the Wildcats’ coming-out party in the SEC. If Kentucky beats Florida Atlantic Saturday afternoon, they will arrive in Columbia with a 5-0 record. Let the hype begin.
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There’s no question Saturday’s USC-Mississippi State game at Williams-Brice Stadium is huge for both teams as the 207 college football season enters the middle portion of the schedule. Both teams are 3-1 overall, 1-1 in the SEC. Here are my five predictions for the game:
1. Chris Smelley Will Throw For More Than 175 Yards: When he does, he’ll sustain a trend that’s developed over his first four career games. His passing yardage has increased with each outing. He threw for 48 yards in his USC debut in last season’s opener at Mississippi State. He followed that up a week later with 64 passing yards against Georgia. This year, he had 101 yards in the win over Louisiana-Lafayette and 174 yards at LSU last week. That’s the kind of progression Steve Spurrier is looking for. Smelley played well in Baton Rouge against one of the best defenses in the country. The Mississippi State pass defense is third-best in the SEC but it doesn’t have the number of athletes the Tigers have.
2. Emanuel Cook Will Have At Least 12 Tackles: Mississippi State is the perfect team for Cook to showcase his immense tackling skills. The Bulldogs don’t throw it very often. Instead, they rely on a solid running game featuring Anthony Dixon, a 240-pound sophomore. As a result, look for Cook to spend a lot of time up close to the line of scrimmage in run support. Cook is aggressive and fearless. He’ll mix it up with physically larger players. If MSU decides to try to establish the run, Cook’s name will called early and often.
3. Either Cory Boyd or Mike Davis Will Gain 100 Yards: What’s special about that? The Mississippi State defense hasn’t allowed a 100-yarder in 10 games. And that includes a meeting with Darren McFadden and Arkansas last year. The impressive streak dates back to a Week 6 game against West Virginia last season. Boyd and Davis, along with the offensive line, are eager to make up for last week’s embarrassing performance against LSU when the Gamecocks finished with 17 net rushing yards on 27 attempts.
4. No Pick-Six For The MSU Defense: The Mississippi State has an interesting stretch going. In the last three games, the MSU secondary has returned an interception for a first-quarter touchdown on the opponents’ initial possession of the game. That’s a new school record for the Bulldogs. Steve Spurrier is well aware of what the MSU secondary has accomplished in the streak. Chris Smelley is as good if not better than any QB the Bulldogs have faced over the last three weeks. Spurrier will probably stay conservative in his early play-calling to keep Smelley out of danger.
5. The USC-Kentucky Hype Will Start Quickly: With the USC-Kentucky game scheduled for Thursday night at Williams-Brice Stadium, Spurrier should expect plenty of questions about the Wildcats in his post-game press conference. Kentucky is No. 14 in this week’s AP poll. The contest is being billed as the Wildcats’ coming-out party in the SEC. If Kentucky beats Florida Atlantic Saturday afternoon, they will arrive in Columbia with a 5-0 record. Let the hype begin.
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Scott Hood. Since February of 2005, Scott has covered the South Carolina football, men's basketball and baseball programs for GamecockCentral. He may be reached by email at scottblog(at)gamecockcentral.com. Replace (at) with @.