By james art 
South Carolina and Vanderbilt continue to be the surprises of the SEC this season, but who can beat the other?
The Commodores are now bowl eligible after another conference upset, this time at Auburn on the road, and return home as the underdog again against an elite South Carolina defense. The Gamecocks have failed to beat College Football Playoff hopeful Texas A&M and are one game away from a bowl game.
How should we prevent this SEC matchup with surprising intrigue?
Here’s our full review.
Distribution
Money line
Total: 45.5 (Over -110/Under -110)
Odds provided by FanDuel Sportsbook
South Carolina
LaNorris Sellers: The freshman had his best game of the season Saturday night in Columbia, passing for 244 yards, adding 106 more on the ground to go along with three touchdowns. He will look to continue building positive momentum on the road against a Vanderbilt defense that has been more than capable of opposing the run this season.
Vanderbilt
Diego Pavia: Rumors swirled about Pavia’s health heading into the Auburn game, and while he didn’t have his best performance by any means, he guided the Commodores to another win in SEC play. Pavia completed just 40 percent of his passes, but he didn’t get sacked or turn the ball over as he continues to keep this Commodores offense on schedule and in position to win games.
South Carolina’s defensive line will look to wreak havoc against potentially struggling Pavia on Saturday, which is certainly the game to watch.
The Gamecocks defensive line is elite, fourth in the nation in sacks and 13th in EPA/Play. If the team can get to Pavia and put the Commodores behind the sticks, it could be tough to sled for this Vandy offense that depends on getting into favorable fields and spacing because the unit isn’t overly explosive.
On the other side of the ball, I’ll look past Sellers’ epic game and the Gamecocks offense last week as the team was in an advantageous situation against a steamrolling Texas A&M defense in a hostile environment.
For the rest of the season, South Carolina’s offense was pretty weak. The unit is 96th in EPA/Play and has allowed the most sacks in the country, but most importantly, it can’t succeed on early downs.
South Carolina is 128th in the nation in third-down average yardage, which will make life difficult against a Vanderbilt defense that has been shaky on third down this season, 79th in third-down conversion percentage allowed.
I believe this game could be dictated by field position as both offenses struggle to find their footing throughout.
CHOICE: UNDER 45.5
Game odds are updated periodically and are subject to change.
Follow Reed on Twitter @ReedWallach and get all his college football bets betstamp @rw33
If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-GAMBLER.