(Video) 2-Minute Drill: Final thoughts before South Carolina kicks off against Furman

Before South Carolina takes on Furman tonight, here’s a few updates on tonight’s game plus a reminder what the keys are for the Gamecocks. Watch the video above.

Offensive Line

He hinted on Monday on TIF that South Carolina was tweaking the offensive line a bit and that there could be some changes at tackle tonight. During warmups, the Gamecocks had:

LT- Sidney Fugar
LG- Nick Gargiulo
C- Vershon Lee
RG- Trai Jones
RT- Jakai Moore

**Note: Despite pre-game warm ups, South Carolina starts with (from left to right) Fugar-Gargiulo-Lee-Moore-Wannamaker. So Moore at right guard, not right tackle and Wannamaker in at right tackle.

Follow along with live updates here.

Keys to the Game:

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.

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.

[GamecockCentral Business Network]

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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