Kickoff: Thursday, 6:00 p.m. ET
Line: South Carolina -10, Total: 57

The 2014-15 college football season kicks off Thursday night with an early SEC battle between ranked teams as No. 21 Texas A&M and No. 9 South Carolina meet at Williams-Brice Stadium.

Both of these programs finished in the top-25 at the end of last season with the Aggies going 9-4 (4-4 in SEC) while the Gamecocks were 11-2 (6-2 in SEC). Texas A&M lost some big names to the NFL draft following last season as starters QB Johnny Manziel, OT Jake Matthews and WR Mike Evans were all taken among the top-22 players. The loss of those players leaves a hole at some major positions which QB Kenny Hill, son of former major league pitcher Ken Hill, hopes he can help fill. South Carolina was a dominant program last season with its only two losses coming against conference foes Tennessee and Georgia. The Gamecocks were a tough team that ranked in the top-45 at both rushing and passing, but will feel the losses of DE/OLB Jadeveon Clowney, who was taken as the first overall pick in the draft, and QB Connor Shaw who started for three seasons in Columbia. Still, the Steve Spurrier-coached team is ready with fifth-year senior QB Dylan Thompson and second team All-SEC HB Mike Davis leading the way. This game is extra exciting with this being the first time in history that these two hard-nosed programs are meeting. The beginning of the season should provide plenty of fireworks as these two teams from the toughest conference in the league see what their new crop of players has in store for them. A couple of betting trends to keep in mind for this contest are that home teams such as South Carolina playing in the first month of the season after finishing the previous year on a win streak of 5+ games to give them an 80% win percentage, are 42-14 (75%) in the past 10 seasons. However, Texas A&M is 4-0 ATS in the previous two seasons when the total is between 56.5 and 63.

The Aggies were great last season in the passing game as they ranked seventh in the nation with 353.3 YPG, which led to 44.2 PPG (5th in FBS). Also, the team was able to gain 185.1 YPG on the ground (45th in nation). Much of their offensive production is in question with the departure of Johnny Manziel, but Kenny Hill hopes he can succeed with his own brand of dual-threat play. In his limited time last season as a freshman, Hill was 16-for-22 with 183 yards (8.3 YPA), 1 TD and 0 INT while also rushing for 37 yards on seven carries. The players to keep an eye on in this offense will be HBs Trey Williams and Tra Carson who combined for 736 yards on 120 carries (6.1 YPC) with 13 touchdowns last year, and both should have a much bigger role in 2014 with the loss of 2013 leading rusher Manziel. As is the case with many large programs, Texas A&M took losses to its roster in many important areas. With its top two receivers (Mike Evans and Derel Walker) gone, WR Malcome Kennedy, who had 658 yards on 60 catches (11.0 YPC) with 7 TD last year, should get the call as the top option, but electric WR Ricky Seals-Jones (28.0 yards per reception) will also play a big role. DB Howard Matthews is expected to lead a defense that really struggled against the run last season (SEC-worst 222.3 rushing YPG allowed). Matthews had 90 tackles and three interceptions last year for a team that gave up 28+ points in 10 of their 13 games, and wound up with 32.2 PPG allowed.

Last season the Gamecocks brought a balanced offensive attack, which ranked 40th in passing yards (253.8 YPG) and 32nd in rushing (198.5 YPG). This led to 34.1 PPG (32nd in FBS), but it was their stingy defense (20.3 PPG, 12th in nation) that was the key to success. Just like the Aggies, South Carolina lost its starting quarterback, and will be relying on Dylan Thompson under center. It should take him no time at all to feel comfortable since he has been with this team for four years already, and was 52-for-89 (58.4%) for 783 yards (8.8 YPA) with 4 TD and 3 INT last year as Shaw’s primary backup. The player in the offense to watch is HB Mike Davis who earned praise as one of the top backs in the SEC last year after posting 1,183 rushing yards (5.8 YPC) with 11 touchdowns, and also was an asset in the passing game with 352 receiving yards on 34 catches. He ran for 105+ yards in seven of the team's first nine games last season, but failed to top that mark once in his final three contests played. Although Davis has been bothered by a ribs injury, he is expected to start on Thursday night. South Carolina should feel comfortable with its wideouts, most notably WRs Shaq Roland (455 rec. yards, 5 TD) and Damiere Byrd (575 rec. yards, 4 TD). The loss of Clowney leaves the door open for LB Skai Moore (56 tackles, 4 INT) to lead the defense, as DB Brison Williams (45 tackles, 1 INT) also attempts to help continue a trend of great defenses at South Carolina.