Know Your Enemy: LSU Faces a South Carolina Team High on Confidence Following Win Over Auburn
LSU has won its last six meetings with South Carolina and come into this weekend as 6.5 point favorites over the Gamecocks. But as has been proven across the conference this season, no win is a guarantee.
The Tigers will have their hands full with a South Carolina team that is successful in the run game and coming off a program-defining win over the weekend. We caught up with Chaunte'l Powell of Gamecock Digest to get her early thoughts on this Gamecock team and their matchup with the purple and gold.
The Gamecocks are coming off one of its defining wins of the Will Muschamp era? What were a few areas South Carolina excelled at against top 25 Auburn and are these trends you could see carrying over to the LSU game this weekend?
Will Muschamp has shown he can pull out a win to get people believing again. Last year it was Georgia and this year it was Auburn. The Gamecocks were able to put together a nearly complete performance where all three phases were on point. The offense saw a number of wide receivers and running backs make plays while the defense achieved one of the pre-season goals of forcing more turnovers. Special teams did its part by giving the Tigers unfavorable field position. All three of these things are achievable and could be replicated against LSU.
South Carolina really likes to utilize its running backs in its offense and have a pretty good one in Kevin Harris. Talk a little about his strengths as a player and how successful he could be against an LSU 4-3 defense that's struggled with its run defense the last few weeks.
Harris is a big physical back. Muschamp talked about how some backs you have to limit carries due to the number and nature of hits and said Harris as well as the rest of that position group are not those type of backs. He is capable of making a defense pay if they are not fundamentally sound and wrap him up.
There are almost too many issues to point out with the LSU defense at this time but one of the main ones has been a lack of communication in the secondary. Could you walk us through a few playmakers on South Carolina that could be poised for a big game against the Tigers?
The Gamecocks have been looking for more explosive playmakers to pair alongside Shi Smith, who has been the consistent go-to guy. Tight end Nick Muse is starting to find his way and could exploit some matchups especially if there is a communication breakdown. The running backs also like to make catches in the flats and use space to their advantage.
We all know Will Muschamp comes from a defensive background, particularly with defensive backs and linebackers. LSU has not had a problem airing it out this season as Myles Brennan and Terrace Marshall are putting up some ridiculous numbers. What's the gameplan in trying to stop those two and slowing down the offense as a whole.
Jaycee Horn is half the answer. Against Auburn he guarded prime target Seth Williams and saw more passes thrown his way than any game previously. As a result he came up with the first and second interception of his career and held Williams to four catches for 74 yards. He is up for the challenge of guarding either of LSU's wide receivers. Israel Mukuamu's groin has been bothering him and sat out against Auburn, but if he's able to go, he will join Horn in the secondary. South Carolina's defensive line has shown they are capable of getting to the quarterback and they will be expected to help the secondary out.
It's still early in the week but I'm curious to get your early thoughts on this game and what South Carolina needs to do more than anything to secure a win.
This game could be another confidence boost for South Carolina as they have a ranked Texas A&M team before the Oct. 31 bye. To get the job done they really will have to give the same type of performance they had against Auburn. Against ranked Tennessee and Florida there was always one thing missing on either side of the ball and as a result they came up just short. They have to continue playing well in all three phases in the same game.
