Three Predictions: South Carolina vs. Vanderbilt

Three things we expect to happen today.

Vanderbilt and South Carolina will kick off Saturday's SEC and national slate with an 11 am kickoff at Vanderbilt Stadium. It's a game both teams and their head coaches desperately need to win. 

Here are three predictions for today's game between the Gamecocks and Commodores in Nashville. 

THREE PREDICTIONS

1) Vanderbilt's Defense Plays Well: After being thrown over, across, and around, we think the Commodores defense will have a bounce-back of sorts and play a better game this week against a Carolina offense that isn't anywhere near as good as last week opponents. 

It starts upfront with the line and pressuring the quarterback. As mentioned in our key matchups, getting pressure on Collin Hill could well prove to be the biggest key. He has been sacked eight times through two games while throwing just three touchdown passes and one interception.  

2) An Emphasis On The Run: The Commodores will look to run the football early and often in an attempt to shorten the game and keep the football away from the Gamecocks. South Carolina's offense isn't prolific, but they average 20.5 points per game compared to Vanderbilt's at 8.5 points per game. 

Running the football is one way the Commodores can help their defense and a ground game today, especially considering the ran and wet conditions likely seems a good call. 

3) Ken Seals Get Two: In his first two starts of the season, freshman quarterback Ken Seals has tossed a touchdown pass in each. He's also served up two picks in each game. 

This week, however, we expect Seals to get two in the touchdown category. While not predicting his interception total, two TD passes would be a good thing for the Commodores considering their 8.5 points per game scoring average, as mentioned above.  

FINAL SCORE

Both teams are desperate, which could turn into an enjoyable one to watch if the weather doesn't totally make it so bad that the players cannot do much. Even though the visitors are favored, the Commodores seem to have a punchers chance here, but can they pull it off? 

SOUTH CAROLINA 21

VANDERBILT 17  

Follow Greg on Twitter @GregAriasSports and @SIVanderbilt or Facebook at Vanderbilt Commodores-Maven.