South Carolina Football 3 Keys: Eastern Illinois

Three-keys-USC

The Shane Beamer era is here and in Eastern Illinois, he has an ideal first opponent for his take on the South Carolina football program. The Gamecocks will fancy their chances of picking up wins in the SEC East in 2021 and this contest will give us a look as to what they have to offer.

By Steve Wright

Here are the three keys to a South Carolina victory:

1 – Find a quarterback

Projected starter Luke Doty only got out of a walking book last week after an offseason foot injury and this isn’t the game to throw him back into. The Panthers have lost 18 of their last 20 – including a Week 0 defeat at the hands of Indiana State (26-21) last week – so there is no point risking Doty before he is ready. Look for multiple quarterbacks to get their shot, with graduate assistant Zeb Noland pulled into the quarterback room at the last minute as cover. He – along with true freshman Colten Gauthier and transfer Jason Brown – will see time here and one of them needs to step up in case Doty is out for longer than expected in his recovery.

2 – Run the ball

This one shouldn’t be close given the talent gap and with the quarterback issue being such an issue it will be down to the running game to take over on the offensive side of the ball. SEC leading rusher Kevin Harris will be looking to get his season off to a hot start, while a host of names including MarShawn Lloyd, ZaQuandre White, and Juju McDowell would all flourish with a heavy workload. It is not unrealistic to think the Gamecocks can control the clock and rush for upwards of 250 yards.

3 – Create turnovers

The Panthers fought back late against Indiana State but the key to their undoing was their three turnovers. The Gamecocks – with their SEC size and speed on defense – should be able to overwhelm the Panther’s offense and have at least as many takeaways as the Sycamores managed. Kingsley Ebagbare will be a complete menace as this one is put away early in the contest.

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