Staff picks: Jacksonville State at South Carolina, other Week 10 matchups

South Carolina is back at home for the first of four straight games at Williams-Brice Stadium. The Gamecocks will take on Jacksonville State at noon on Saturday.

There’s plenty of other good games going on this weekend. So here’s how the GamecockCentral and 107.5 The Game staff sees this game going plus a few predictions on other key matchups.

Chris Clark: USC’s a bit healthier on the offensive line, and Ahmarean Brown also returns. Here’s to thinking that USC gets things going offensively in the friendly confines of Williams-Brice Stadium. Jacksonville State’s offense will present some problems at times with tempo and running the ball. The Gamecocks should be able to force a couple turnovers in this one. South Carolina 37, Jacksonville State 20

Terry Ford: The Gamecocks score early, stay away from turnovers, force some field goals on defense and get a big play on special teams to win. South Carolina 27, Jacksonville State 16

Griffin Goodwyn: South Carolina needs something to stop its recent four-game slide. And on paper, a matchup against a Jacksonville State team playing in its first FBS season looks like a great opportunity to do so given the talent gap between the two teams. It won’t be easy for the Gamecocks, as they will be facing a rushing attack averaging 217.2 yards per game, which ranks eighth in the country. But South Carolina has enough in its toolbox to vault themselves into the win column for the first time since late September. South Carolina 41, Jacksonville State 24.

Tyler Head: Jax State is far from a cupcake and has an up tempo offense and a stout defense that can make things interesting. I think Carolina’s talent will be too much to overcome though, they need a win in the worst possible way. South Carolina 34, Jacksonville State 17

Joe Macheca: South Carolina gets back home and finally finds some good football. Super Mario runs the ball all over Jacksonville State. The USC defense responds well to the tempo and option of Jax State. South Carolina 41, Jacksonville State 24

Wes Mitchell: The return home should be good for South Carolina, as should a much better matchup after a couple of tough ones in road games against really talented teams. This Jacksonville State defense has statistically been really good but they’ve still given up points when facing better offenses and the Gamecocks are a pretty good offense when they can win or even hold serve in the trench battle. The real Gamecocks should go home happy. South Carolina 40, Jacksonville State 17

Jay Phillips: South Carolina isn’t getting beat because of complete mismatches in talent, it’s because most of the little things needed to win aren’t getting done. This week offers a chance to play a team where Carolina most definitely has a talent advantage, and that needs to lead to them doing those little things and regaining some confidence. If they do this game will be comfortable. If Jacksonville State exploits those weaknesses then we have a different story. I’ll choose the former and say Carolina wins. South Carolina 37, Jacksonville State 17

Kendall Smith: Cocktober didn’t go as planned, so it’s now no-mistakes November for South Carolina. I think they’ll get it done this week in the Gamecocks Bowl. Give me the Carolina Gamecocks over the Jacksonville State Gamecocks. South Carolina 38, Jacksonville State 10

Mike Uva: I don’t know what was needed more for South Carolina – returning back to Williams-Brice or gaining a pair of healthy OL with Cason Henry and Vershon Lee back ready to go. Either way, I expect the Gamecocks of Columbia to play their best ball of the season, in all three phases, to take care of the other Gamecocks. South Carolina 38, Jacksonville State 20

Jack Veltri: Part of me would love to pick a good upset here. But I think South Carolina is looking at things the right way. Take it one game at a time, don’t focus on bowl eligibility right now. Because one bad game and that dream is over. So I think the real Gamecocks get back to business this week. Keep in mind, South Carolina averages 41 points when it’s at Williams-Brice. They’ll play a good game and take home the first ever Gamecock vs. Gamecock trophy (not a real thing, by the way, just made that up). South Carolina 40, Jacksonville State 20

Chris Wellbaum: I expect lots of scoring, some bizarre plays, and USC to develop some good vibes for the home stretch. South Carolina 41, Jacksonville State 22

	Notre Dame at Clemson	Missouri at Georgia	Oklahoma at Oklahoma State	Auburn at Vanderbilt	Kansas at Iowa State	Washington at Southern Cal	LSU at Alabama	UCLA at Arizona
Chris Clark (54-27)	Notre Dame	Georgia	Oklahoma	Auburn	Kansas	Southern Cal	Alabama	UCLA
Terry Ford (52-29)	Clemson	Georgia	Oklahoma	Auburn	Iowa State	Southern Cal	Alabama	Arizona
Griffin Goodwyn (58-23)	Notre Dame	Georgia	Oklahoma	Auburn	Iowa State	Washington	Alabama	Arizona
Tyler Head (49-32)	Notre Dame	Georgia	Oklahoma State	Auburn	Kansas	Washington	LSU	Arizona
Joe Macheca (49-32)	Notre Dame	Georgia	Oklahoma	Vanderbilt	Iowa State	Washington	Alabama	UCLA
Wes Mitchell (57-24)	Clemson	Georgia	Oklahoma State	Auburn	Kansas	Southern Cal	Alabama	Arizona
Jay Philips (57-24)	Notre Dame	Georgia	Oklahoma	Auburn	Iowa State	Washington	Alabama	UCLA
Kendall Smith (53-28)	Notre Dame	Georgia	Oklahoma	Auburn	Iowa State	Washington	Alabama	UCLA
Mike Uva (58-23)	Notre Dame	Georgia	Oklahoma	Auburn	Iowa State	Washington	Alabama	Arizona
Jack Veltri (48-33)	Notre Dame	Georgia	Oklahoma	Vanderbilt	Kansas	Southern Cal	Alabama	Arizona
Chris Wellbaum (50-31)	Clemson	Georgia	Oklahoma	Vanderbilt	Kansas	Washington	Alabama	Arizona

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