Ole Miss Football: 2018 Game-by-game predictions
South Carolina head coach Will Muschamp appears to have turned the corner in his head coaching career. Not only will the Gamecocks be favored to beat the Rebels, they’re quietly being picked by some as a darkhorse candidate to win the SEC East.
The offense will be led by junior quarterback Jake Bentley who tossed 18 touchdowns last year. Three of those went to superstar receiver Deebo Samuel who only participated in three games due to injuries. He’ll be back healthy this go round and that’s going to be a problem for a secondary that was rather porous last season and won’t be expected to make a material improvement over the course of the 2018 season.
Neither of these teams was that particularly strong against the pass last season, both ranking somewhere near the middle of the pack in yards allowed through the air. It’s going to be high scoring, but it will be the Gamecocks will take the game on the road.