Primetime College Football: Chick-fil-A Bowl
This game goes down on the ESPN network and it features the University of South Carolina Gamecocks taking on Florida State University Seminoles in the 43rd annual Chick-fil-A Bowl at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.
South Carolina, 9-4, 5-3 SEC, head coach Steve Spurrier is enjoying his best season for the Gamecocks. They began the season with three straight victories but followed that by a loss to Auburn. The rest of the way saw the Gamecocks play on an inconsistent level until they took the last three games of the year. That found them in a rematch against Auburn in the SEC title game which they where roasted 56-17.
Offensively the Gamecocks are producing 32 ppg behind freshman running back Marcus Lattimore, who has rushed for 1,198 yards and 17 touchdowns. Lattimore, who earned Freshman of the Year honors in the SEC, and also landed on the All-SEC First Team.
Finally the Gamecocks got the most productive year out of quarterback Stephen Garcia who helped keep defenses honest and not lock into the Lattimore. Garcia completed 65.1 percent of his passes and finished with 2,816 yards and 20 touchdowns along with 11 interceptions. Garcia’s favorite target down field was sophomore Alshon Jeffery as he caught 79 passes for 1,387 yards and 9 touchdowns.
Florida State, 9-4, 6-2 ACC, is under the direction of first year head coach Jimbo Fisher who guided his team to an ACC championship game, however they lost to Virginia Tech 44-33. The Seminoles ival Florida. Unfortunately, the Seminoles were unable to remain in the win column as they fell to Virginia Tech, 44-33 in the ACC title matchup.
The Seminoles have a very balanced attack led by senior quarterback Christian Ponder, who threw for 2,038 yards and 20 touchdowns and 8 interceptions in only 11 games. Ponder doesn’t really signal out a single receiver but does look for Bert Reed to come through at critical times. Reed led the team with 56 catches and 589 yards while Taiwan Easterling followed in second with 41 catches and Willie Haulstead scored 6 touchdowns.
The running game has rumbled on the season of 167.8 ypg with Chris Thompson and his 698 yards 5 touchdowns is the main option. The Seminoles like it’s passing attack doesn’t focus in on one runner as Ty Jones helped the team with 5 touchdowns and Jermaine Thomas 6 touchdowns.
PICK: Florida State University Seminoles



