How and what to watch for No. 14 Auburn vs. South Carolina

The No. 14 Auburn Tigers will go for their second consecutive victory when they head on the road to play the South Carolina Gamecocks on Saturday, Oct. 17.

Auburn is coming off a typical Auburn game that would take too much time to explain. Bottom line: the Tigers benefited greatly from the officials’ mistakes to help them beat Arkansas in the final minute 30-28. Bo Nix completed 17 of 28 passes for 187 yards and a touchdown. Most of his throws went to wide receiver Anthony Schwartz, who went for 100 yards on 10 catches with a touchdown. Tank Bigsby was impressive on the ground with 146 yards on 20 carries.

South Carolina is coming off its first win of the season, a 41-7 victory over Vanderbilt, after losses to Tennessee and Florida to start the season. Collin Hill completed 16 of 24 passes for 196 yards for the Gamecocks. He also rushed for a pair of touchdowns and finished with six carries for 12 yards. Kevin Harris helped carry the offense with 171 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 21 carries. South Carolina outscored Vanderbilt 31-7 in the second half.

Auburn won the last eight games in this series, though these two teams haven’t played since 2014, a 42-35 win for the Tigers.

Game Time/TV Channel/Streaming

You can watch this game Saturday, October 17th at 12:00 p.m. ET on ESPN, or you can stream it via the ESPN app with a cable or streaming login.

Point Spread, Totals, Odds, Trends

Point spread: Auburn (-2.5) vs. South Carolina
Point Total: O/U 53.5
Money line: Auburn (-148), South Carolina (+120)

• Auburn is 11-5 against the spread in its last 16 games.
• The total went under in six of Auburn’s last eight games.
• South Carolina is 0-5 straight up in its last five games.
• The total went under in four of South Carolina’s last six games.

The Best Bet

Auburn was given a gift last weekend to beat Arkansas, and I think the Tigers take advantage of it and keep themselves inside of the top 15 beating a South Carolina team that’s average at best. Nix is tough to figure out, but he’s due for a good game, and it will come against the Gamecocks, which allowed 31 points to Tennessee and 38 points to Florida.

Pick: Auburn -2.5

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