Staff Picks: Big Week 5 matchups on tap during South Carolina bye week

After getting off to a 3-1 start to the season, South Carolina is enjoying a much-needed off week, which means the Gamecocks will not be playing this weekend.

Despite that, there are still numerous important games to watch this weekend from around the country. Plus, the GamecockCentral and 107.5 The Game staff have predicted a random FCS game of the week just to have some fun.

Here’s how the staff picked this weekend’s Week 5 games.

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George Bagwell: I thought I’d show some love to SC State this weekend. The Bulldogs lost 42-14 to Georgia Southern last week, but beat The Citadel on the road in Week 2 and lost a heartbreaker to FAMU in Week 1 after going up 18-7 in the fourth quarter. I like their chances against the Aggies this weekend, who got blown out by NC Central last game, giving up 66 points to the Eagles. Deondra Duehart shouldn’t have an issue against the Aggies’ run defense, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the former Benedict Tiger had multiple touchdowns. South Carolina State 34, NC A&T 24.

Peyton Butt: Mercer over Wofford because I did a summer internship in Macon this year.

Elijah Campbell: Gardner-Webb over Tennessee Tech. I’m taking G-W here because that’s where basketball legend Artis Gilmore started his career before taking Jacksonville to a national championship (portaled before portaling was cool). I also briefly attended Tennessee Tech and I hated it so this is a vendetta pick as well. Wings down. 

Chris Clark: Go Racers. This is a heart pick.  ND is 3-0 at home this season and this will be a difficult game. But let’s pick former Gamecock assistant Jody Wright’s team to pull off the upset for some fun. Murray State 27, North Dakota 24.

Terry Ford: South Dakota over Southern Illinois.

Griffin Goodwyn: As a Virginia native, I would like to use this opportunity to go local and predict the outcome of a matchup between two FCS programs in the Commonwealth — Hampton and William & Mary. Both teams begin Coastal Athletic Association play on Saturday and head into the matchup with even records (3-1). Hampton and William & Mary are also nearly identical in points scored per game (31.3 to 31.0) and yards of offense per game (411.5 and 418.8). But in the nine-game history of this rivalry, the Pirates have yet to win a game over the Tribe, even with some close calls in recent memory. William & Mary will have a slight home field advantage in Williamsburg, though, and that’ll be enough to give it a 10th-straight win over Hampton. William & Mary 30, Hampton 24.

[Win two tickets to the South Carolina-Ole Miss football game]

Tyler Head: Mercer over Wofford. Mercer is fresh off their first ever playoff appearance and 1st year coach Mike Jacobs has been a winner everywhere he’s been. Bears improve to 5-0.

Wes Mitchell: Tony Reno and Co. improve to 2-0 on the season as Nathan Denney scores two more touchdowns. Yale defeats Cornell 31-21.

Jay Philips: In a game between two schools where I had several friends attend both sides, including two that played football (one at each), I’ve got Davidson getting past PC. Davidson 30, Presbyterian 26.

Kendall Smith: For my FCS game of the week let’s go with Brown vs. Harvard and let’s pick Brown. I haven’t watched a game this season and won’t claim to know much about either team, but they have home field advantage, so I’m gonna roll with it… Lol!

Mike Uva: While South Carolina is off this weekend, they’ll still be a Reno in action. No, it’s not Dante Reno but rather his dad Tony who is the head coach of Yale. The Bulldogs will begin Ivy League play with a big win on the road over Andy Bernard’s Cornell Big Red. Yale 27, Cornell 13.

Jack Veltri: Marist has been pretty bad this year at 0-3. But the Red Foxes have to get their first win at some point, right? Plus, both of my parents went to and graduated from Marist. If you don’t know much about Marist, it’s a small school located in Poughkeepsie, New York. So I’m mainly picking Marist to beat Dayton at home because I love my mom and dad so much! Marist 24, Dayton 17.

Chris Wellbaum: I was tempted to do the Weber State game in honor of Harold “The Show” Arceneaux, but I never pass up a chance to talk about the ninth wonder of the world, the Kibbie Dome even if UC Davis is the home team. Did you know it is actually the Kibbie Domes? The original roof leaked but instead of repairing it, they built a new dome over the old dome. The Aggies have a nuclear reactor, but that’s no match for the Kibbie Domes. Idaho 24, UC Davis 13.

	Buffalo at UConn	Oklahoma State at Kansas State	Western Michigan at Marshall	Louisville at Notre Dame	North Carolina at Duke	Georgia at Alabama	Illinois at Penn State	Washington State at Boise State
George Bagwell (18-18)	UConn	Kansas State	Marshall	Louisville	Duke	Alabama	Illinois	Washington State
Peyton Butt (20-16)	Buffalo	Kansas State	Marshall	Louisville	Duke	Georgia	Illinois	Boise State
Elijah Campbell (26-10)	Buffalo	Kansas State	Marshall	Notre Dame	Duke	Alabama	Penn State	Boise State
Chris Clark (21-15)	Buffalo	Kansas State	Marshall	Notre Dame	Duke	Georgia	Penn State	Boise State
Terry Ford (26-10)	UConn	Kansas State	Marshall	Notre Dame	Duke	Alabama	Penn State	Washington State
Griffin Goodwyn (23-13)	UConn	Kansas State	Marshall	Notre Dame	Duke	Georgia	Penn State	Boise State
Tyler Head (21-15)	UConn	Oklahoma State	Marshall	Louisville	North Carolina	Georgia	Illinois	Boise State
Wes Mitchell (22-14)	UConn	Kansas State	Marshall	Notre Dame	North Carolina	Alabama	Penn State	Boise State
Jay Philips (20-16)	Buffalo	Oklahoma State	Marshall	Notre Dame	Duke	Georgia	Penn State	Boise State
Kendall Smith (19-17)	UConn	Kansas State	Marshall	Notre Dame	Duke	Georgia	Penn State	Washington State
Mike Uva (23-13)	Buffalo	Oklahoma State	Marshall	Notre Dame	North Carolina	Georgia	Penn State	Boise State
Jack Veltri (22-14)	Buffalo	Kansas State	Marshall	Notre Dame	North Carolina	Alabama	Penn State	Boise State
Chris Wellbaum (24-12)	Buffalo (Lembo)	Kansas State	Marshall	Notre Dame	Duke	Alabama	Illinois	Washington State

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