I’m going to go ahead and say it.

I think South Carolina is going to beat Alabama.

And before somebody starts screaming that I’ve lost my mind or that I’m looking at this through garnet-colored glasses, understand something: this isn’t about Alabama suddenly becoming a bad football team. They aren’t. Alabama still has as much raw talent walking around that campus as just about anybody in America.

But I think Alabama is overrated.

More importantly, I think they are vulnerable in exactly the areas South Carolina is capable of exploiting.

That is what makes this matchup so interesting to me.

For years, people have looked at the script A on the helmet and automatically assumed Alabama would have an elite offensive line, an NFL quarterback and a running game capable of beating you into submission.

I’m not sure this Alabama team has any of those things right now.

START WITH THE OFFENSIVE LINE

This is where my eyes immediately go.

Alabama lost two important pieces up front to the NFL in Kadyn Proctor and Parker Brailsford. They were already dealing with youth and inconsistency on the offensive front, and now they’re replacing even more experience.

That’s a problem.

And I don’t care how many stars are beside the names of the guys replacing them.

I’ve evaluated football players for a long time, and one thing I’ve learned is that offensive line play isn’t simply about collecting five talented athletes and putting them beside each other.

It’s about communication.

It’s about timing.

It’s about leverage.

It’s about recognizing fronts and pressures before the ball is snapped.

And most importantly, it’s about five guys functioning like one unit.

You don’t manufacture that overnight.

Now consider what Alabama is going to see across the line of scrimmage when South Carolina comes to town.

Dylan Stewart.

And a South Carolina defensive front that I believe has a chance to be one of the better groups in the SEC.

That’s where this football game starts for me.

If South Carolina can generate pressure with four people, everything changes.

You don’t have to sell out with blitzes. You can disguise coverages. You can keep bodies underneath. You can make a young quarterback hold the football for another half-second.

And against Dylan Stewart, another half-second can feel like an eternity.

THEN THERE’S THE QUARTERBACK

Keelon Russell may eventually become a great quarterback.

Hell, he may become an NFL quarterback.

But I’m talking about right now.

Potential and experience are two completely different things.

He’s going to be playing behind an offensive line trying to establish itself while learning how to operate against SEC defenses that are going to throw every imaginable look at him.

South Carolina doesn’t need Russell to be terrible.

They just need to make him uncomfortable.

Make him move off his spot.

Make him speed up his clock.

Make him wonder where Stewart is coming from before the snap.

Young quarterbacks make mistakes when the picture they saw before the snap doesn’t look the same after it.

That’s where South Carolina can steal possessions.

AND THEN THERE’S LANORRIS SELLERS

This is the other side of the equation that I think people are overlooking.

South Carolina has the more experienced quarterback in this matchup.

And they may have the most physically gifted quarterback on the field.

LaNorris Sellers gives South Carolina something that makes defensive coordinators miserable: he can make a good defensive call wrong.

You can win the protection.

You can cover everybody.

You can collapse the pocket.

And Sellers can still escape, pick up 18 yards and move the chains.

That’s demoralizing to a defense.

More importantly, Sellers isn’t being asked to become Superman this season. South Carolina has more experience around him offensively, and I think Kendal Briles is going to put him in situations where his athletic ability becomes a weapon instead of a necessity.

That’s a huge difference.

SOUTH CAROLINA IS SNEAKY GOOD

This is the part I think people outside Columbia are missing.

They’re looking at South Carolina’s record from last season.

I’m looking at the football team that’s going to walk onto the field this season.

Those aren’t necessarily the same thing.

There is experience on this offense.

There are playmakers.

There is a quarterback with enormous physical ability.

And there is enough talent on the defensive front to create problems for anybody they play.

I don’t think South Carolina needs everything to go perfectly to beat Alabama.

I think they need to do three things:

Pressure Russell without constantly blitzing.

Protect the football.

Let Sellers be Sellers.

Do those three things and Alabama is going to find itself in a four-quarter fistfight.

And that’s where this gets really interesting.

Because the longer South Carolina hangs around, the more the pressure shifts to Alabama.

They’re Alabama.

They’re at home.

They’re supposed to win.

South Carolina can walk into Bryant-Denny Stadium with absolutely nothing to lose and start swinging.

I’M CALLING IT NOW

Maybe I’ll have to eat this one later.

That’s part of making predictions.

But I’m not waiting until game week and pretending I saw it coming.

I’m putting it down now.

South Carolina beats Alabama.

Not because Alabama doesn’t have talent.

Not because Alabama football has suddenly fallen apart.

But because I believe Alabama has weaknesses in places South Carolina is specifically constructed to attack.

Sometimes football really is that simple.

It’s about matchups.

And when I look at this one, I see a young Alabama quarterback behind an offensive line trying to find itself, facing a South Carolina defense capable of making his afternoon miserable.

Then I look across the field and see LaNorris Sellers.

I’ll take my chances.

Give me the Gamecocks.