South Carolina Three Keys: Coastal Carolina

Three-keys-USC

It is hardly hyperbolic to say that the 2018 college football season is the most important one for South Carolina in five years. The last South Carolina autumn to possess this much significance was in 2013, when the last of Steve Spurrier’s loaded teams, led by quarterback Connor Shaw, had the chance to win big, and generally did, but watched Missouri unexpectedly rise to the top of the SEC East to steal a trip to Atlanta.

By Matt Zemek

This is not universally accepted in the 2018 SEC East, but if you put 100 football people in a room, chances are that most of them would give South Carolina the best chance of unseating Georgia from the top spot in the division and making the trip to Atlanta roughly three months from now. This is the time for South Carolina to strike. This is the season in which Will Muschamp has to get it right, as does new (exclusive) offensive coordinator Bryan McClendon.

Jake Bentley gives South Carolina a Cadillac quarterback, the kind of gunslinger who can light up scoreboards at a rate which opposing offenses might not be able to match. South Carolina has a far better offense than Florida. In a year when the Gators and another SEC East rival, Tennessee, are breaking in new  head coaches, South Carolina’s  continuity and internal familiarity with a coaching staff need to pay dividends. In 2019, UF and UT might catch up.

This is the year to go big. What should the Gamecocks focus on in Week 1 against Coastal Carolina?

1 – THE OTHER GUYS

Deebo Samuel being back on the field is huge for this team, but with Georgia just around the corner, South Carolina needs this game to be a showcase for the second through fourth wide receivers, establishing to Kirby Smart on film study that Deebo can’t receive everyone’s attention. A strong game from the “other” wide receivers makes it more likely that Smart and UGA won’t be able to double-cover Deebo, which is an essential piece to a winning plan against Georgia. That’s a central part of the value of this game.

2 – AGGRESSIVE BUT SIMPLE

Play selection in a game such as this one must strike a delicate balance. South Carolina – in the words of former coach Steve Spurrier – can “pitch it around the ballpark,” and should therefore try to do what it expects to do all season long in Week 1. There’s no sense in trying to pound the ball between the tackles when the passing game is so good. However, the presence of an elite passing attack doesn’t mean McClendon should unfurl his best passing plays. This needs to be a game in which pass plays are aggressive but simple. The complicated plays, formations and personnel groupings need to be saved for Georgia so that Smart can’t get a read on tendencies.

3 – UP THE MIDDLE

Beating Georgia will require toughness up the gut of the defense, the interior defensive tackles, middle linebacker, and the safeties in run support. Getting rugged, alert performances from those members of the defense will inspire confidence against Georgia. South Carolina has to gain clarity on its preparedness in those positions heading out of Week 1.

The battle lines are now drawn.

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