Cornhuskers, Gamecocks Meet In Capital One Bowl

The South Carolina Gamecocks will try to complete their best season in school history on Monday when they face the Nebraska Cornhuskers in the Capital One Bowl.  The Gamecocks (10-2) have already equaled their most wins ever but will need to break a three-game skid in the postseason and beat the Cornhuskers (9-3) in Orlando to set a new record.

South Carolina closed the regular season ranked No. 15 in the Don Best Linemakers Poll and opened as a 1-point favorite in the Jan. 2 contest against Nebraska.  The Gamecocks have been bet up to -2 at some sportsbooks with the total moving down from 48 to 46.

Nebraska ended its first season in the Big Ten by finishing third in the Legends Division, dropping three conference games to account for all of its losses and falling twice in the final four games.  The Cornhuskers utilize a power running game offensively behind quarterback Taylor Martinez (837 yards rushing and nine touchdowns) and running back Rex Burkhead (1,268 and 15 TDs).  They ranked 13th in the country with 223.9 rushing yards per game as a team but will be without offensive lineman Andrew Rodriguez for the fourth straight game due to a sprained foot.

South Carolina also had a strong ground game for most of the season until star RB Marcus Lattimore suffered a torn ligament in his left knee during a 14-12 victory at Mississippi State on October 15.  Lattimore was leading the SEC in rushing at the time with 818 yards and also scored 10 times in seven games.  The sophomore was replaced by freshman Brandon Wilds, who finished with 486 yards and three touchdowns in nine games.

The Gamecocks have had to adjust to a change at QB as well with sophomore Connor Shaw taking over for senior Stephen Garcia under center in October.  Garcia was later dismissed from the team for failing an alcohol test while Shaw ended up throwing for 1,218 yards and 12 touchdowns while running for 483 more with seven rushing touchdowns.

South Carolina is also dealing with the loss of defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson, who took the head coach job at Southern Miss on December 20 and started immediately.  The Gamecocks allowed 18.8 points and 268.9 yards per game to rank third and fourth, respectively, in the SEC.

Nebraska has won all three meetings with South Carolina, with the last coming in 1987.  The Cornhuskers have seen the ‘under’ cash in five of their last six games overall while the ‘under’ is also 7-3 in the past 10 for the Gamecocks.  South Carolina has won three in a row and six of seven heading into this matchup but did not cover the spread in consecutive games all season.

Game time is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. (ET) with television coverage provided by ESPN. The weather forecast for Orlando on Monday calls for a high temperature of 70 under partly cloudy skies.