Quick Slants with Uva: Week 2 keys vs Furman
There’s a feeling of déjà vu in the air with this week’s Quick Slants. I’m talking about the keys for South Carolina and hopefully not a repeat of what we saw last week on the field.
After a disappointing season opener last Saturday, the Gamecocks are playing one of the better teams in FCS. And while Furman could give South Carolina fits at times this weekend, if USC has success with the three keys below, they should be able to win this game in dominating fashion.
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1- Keep Rattler upright
Much like with Spectrum and Disney, USC’s offensive line let a lot of people down last weekend.
I understand the frustration from the fanbase, I do. But as I’ve stated going back to the offseason, we knew replacing nearly 60 percent of the starting OL snaps from a year ago was gonna be a challenge. Add in fact that USC has had several starters on the OL go down with injuries between the spring and last week, and it just makes that challenge that much more difficult. Having said all that, no one is gonna feel sorry for the Gamecocks and nor should they.
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I hinted at it on Monday on The Insiders Forum that we could see some new tackles this weekend against Furman with Nick Gargiulo and/or Jakai Moore. Regardless of what the starting five looks like on the OL South Carolina needs to protect Spencer Rattler better this week… and that’s an understatement. Another performance like that and Rattler might not make it through this season. That and the fact that it could lead to turnovers. Furman led FCS in takeaways last season and returned two interceptions for touchdowns last week.
2- Finish tackles
Furman had a lot of success with running the football in Week 1 and that’s how they’ll try to beat South Carolina this week. Going back to last season, the Paladins have rushed for over 200 yards in each of their last three games. They also rushed for nearly 150 yards last season against Clemson.
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When you remove a few kneel downs from UNC last week, the Tar Heels were able to find success on the ground rushing for over 170 yards. A lot of that success came from USC not finishing tackles or taking poor angles, which led to additional yardage for UNC. As I said on Sunday, I felt that the Gamecocks did a better job as the game went on but they need to put a full game together defensively.
What makes me feel optimistic that they will is because they were in position for most of those plays against a really athletic UNC team. Play at linebacker this week will be key and that starts with Stone Blanton and Debo Williams.
3- Don’t let special teams beat you
It goes without saying but we all know how talented South Carolina’s special teams have been under Pete Lembo and Shane Beamer. But that doesn’t mean it should ever, EVER, be taken for granted. Furman has been one of the hotter teams in FCS dating back to last season. Ranked No.6, they’ve won eight of their last nine games. And much like the Gamecocks last season, they were dominant with their special teams. In 2022, the Paladins led FCS with ten blocked kicks and used special teams to springboard them to many victories.
I don’t care if the Gamecocks were playing a DIII team. When you combine a veteran team who takes pride in playing special teams, you can’t take their special teams units lightly. South Carolina is bigger, faster, and stronger. Do your 1/11th and don’t give a team who has nothing lose a chance to steal momentum in a phase of the game where you have been so polished at since 2021.
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