Gamecocks at Volunteers

Point Spread:  USC -6.5

For Carolina, this game is the second of three away games, all three are conference games.  Coming off a bye week, the Gamecocks should prove to be ready for whatever the Volunteers can throw at them.  Needless to say, neither team is firing on all cylinders, though.

Let's break it down...

Offense
South Carolina's offense is hurting with the loss of Marcus Lattimore to a season ending knee injury, but with a back up like Brandon Wilds, we should be able to pull through.  Let me say this, Brandon Wilds is certainly no Marcus Lattimore, but is he a capable runningback? Yes.  Will he carry the ball 30 times? Doubtful.  What can he do then, you ask?  He can find the holes, and he can haul ass through them, he can get open, and he can hold on to the ball.  Currently, he has 13 carries for 75 yards which comes to a 5.8 yard per touch average.  He also has 3 catches for 21 yards.  Reason to be happy right? Maybe.

Out of those 13 carries, 3 were against Vandy for 22 yards, 5 were against Kentucky for 45 yards, and 5 were against Miss St for 8 yards.  While the 5.8 ypc average is good, most were gained against weak defenses.  Look at the Mississippi St carries, 5 rushes for 8 yards.  Tennessee and Miss St are just about even in rush defense, (MSU ranked 55th nationally against the run, UT ranked 56th).  So what can we expect, should be the next question.  Wilds has a burst of speed that can get him into the open, expect us to utilize that speed as well as options to keep Tennessee guessing.  He also won't be carrying the whole load since Eric Baker and Kenny Miles are back in the line up.  Time will tell, but I don't see him going over 45-60 yards tomorrow.  Between the three, and Ellington in the wildcat, though, the passing game should open up a little.

Offensively for Tennessee, they start a new QB in freshman Justin Worley, a Rock Hill native that USC failed to recruit in the numerous trips to recruit Clowney and the Dixons.  Are we, as fans, complaining? Nope.  We're happy with our recruits performance so far.  Justin Worley is without the top receiving target in Justin Hunter, but he still has Da'Rick Rodgers to toss the ball up to, are they hurting without Hunter? Sure.  Can they still put up points on South Carolina? Most definitely.  I'm a realist, this game could be very close in the end, as it usually is between USC and UT.  The key to the UT offense this week will be Tauren Poole.  If he can run well enough to keep the USC defense honest, then Justin Worley should be able to settle in and give the USC pass defense a run for its money.  If the USC defensive line shuts down Tauren Poole, then look for Worley to be pressured A LOT.


Defense
The Gamecocks enter this game ranked 47th in rushing defense, and as we noted above, they are going to have to shut down Tauren Poole, because when he gets the ball he is going to come right at them, just like Michael Dyer did.

The upside, is that our pass defense is ranked #1 in the nation, allowing only 133.7 yards per game.  So when Worley does look to complete a pass, they will be all over him like white on rice on a paper plate in a snow storm.  The defense also leads the nation in takeaways, sitting at twenty four.  Fourteen of which are interceptions.

Coming into this game, UT is 40th against the pass, and 56th against the rush, 47th in overall defense.  Against Alabama, they kept the game close until the second half, entering that half the game tied, 6-6.  In the second half they got torched by another 31 points, in a 37-6 loss.  Tennessee is not used to being shut down like that, and look for them to try and redeem themselves against the Gamecocks.  I expect them to play lights out, and on good ole Rocky Top, the fans are always raging.

I see the Gamecocks and Volunteers to go through a hard fought battle in the first half, and then, I expect the Gamecocks to persevere as it seems they have done every game this season, shy of Kentucky.

My prediction:
Melvin Ingram gets a touchdown, defense will get 2 INT's, 1 fumble recovery, Connor will throw a decent game going for around 22-32 for 195 yards, 2 TD's, 1 INT.  Wilds gets a touchdown, and Carolina pulls it out in the second half 34-17.

Until next time.
Go Cocks.