College Football Picks Against the Spread: South Carolina vs Mississippi State

Both of these teams come into this game with some serious problems, so the outcome of this game is difficult to predict. The South Carolina Gamecocks have recently dismissed senior quarterback Stephen Garcia from the team, which leaves sophomore Connor Shaw the starter. 

The Mississippi State Bulldogs have a solid team, but for whatever reason always seem to come up short in big games. They've lost every game against ranked teams like Auburn, LSU and Georgia.

The main question heading into this game is how well Connor Shaw will play in his second game. He played extremely well last week against Kentucky, throwing for 311 yards and four touchdowns but then again it is against the Wildcats.

The Bulldogs have a much better secondary that gives up less than 200 passing yards a game. The good news is that Alshon Jefferey came to life last week with Shaw throwing him the ball as he caught six passes for 95 yards a two touchdowns.

The Bulldogs aren't exactly good at stopping the run, as they've given up over 150 rushing yards a game. That's not good when they will be facing a heavy dose of Marcus Lattimore.

Mississippi State is terrible at throwing the ball, but average over 180 yards on the ground. Chris Relf and running back Vick Ballard are a big reason for their success.

South Carolina is decent at stopping the run, but could be a lot better as they give up 146 rushing yards a game.

Mainly, this is going to come down to which defense is better and South Carolina has the better defense line and more weapons on offense to win this game.

I'll take the team that is proven over the team that has lost every big game this season.

The Gamecocks are 4-0 against the spread in their last four road games.

Pick: South Carolina -3