QB: #3, Ryan Hilinski (Fr.; 6-3, 230; ProFootballFocus season score of 63.9)

#7, Dakereon Joyner (Fr.; 6-1, 205; 58.7)

RB: #4, Tavien Feaster (Sr.-TR.; 6, 221; 76.4)

#5, Rico Dowdle (Sr.; 6, 215; 70.2)

#34, Mon Denson (Sr.; 5-10, 215; 64.4)

TE: #31, Chandler Farrell (Jr.; 6-3, 295; 54.3)

TE: #84, Kyle Markway (Jr.; 6-4, 250; 54.1)

#82, KeShawn Toney (Fr.; 6-2, 240; 59.9)

WR: #89, Bryan Edwards (Sr.; 6-3, 215; 77.9)

#83, Chavis Dawkins (Sr.; 6-2, 225; 53.6)

WR: #13, Shi Smith (Jr.; 5-10, 190; 63.8)

#8 Randrecous Davis (Jr.; 5-10, 190; n/a)

WR: #6, Josh Vann (So.; 5-10, 185; 51.3)

#18, OrTre Smith (So.; 6-4, 220; 56)

LT: #50, Sadarius Hutcherson (Jr.; 6-4, 320; 65)

#55 Jakai Moore (Fr.; 6-5, 295; 43.8)

LG: #76, Jordan Rhodes (So.; 6-4, 330; 62.2)

C: #72, Donell Stanley (Sr.; 6-3, 325; 67)

#70, Hank Manos (RS-Fr.; 6-4, 290; 28.7)

#74, Vincent Murphy (Fr.; 6-2, 290; 66.6)

RG: #54, Jovaughn Gwyn (RS-Fr.; 6-2, 305; 63.8)

#71 Eric Douglas (So. 6-4, 315; 44)

RT: #79, Dylan Wonnum (So.; 6-5, 310; 62.1)

#52, Jaylen Nichols (Fr.; 6-5, 320; 39.2)

DE: #8 DeMarvin Leal (Fr.; 6-4, 290; ProFootballFocus season score of 68.7)

#91, Micheal Clemons (Jr.; 6-5, 272; 65.7)

#15 Jeremiah Martin (So.; 6-5, 244; 50.8)

DT: #52, Justin Madubuike (RS-Jr.; 6-3, 304; 88.7)

#92, Jayden Peevy (Jr.; 6-6, 298; 73.5)

DT: #5, Bobby Brown (So.; 6-4, 325; 82.6)

#99, Josh Rogers (RS-So.; 6-5, 290; 60.9)

DE: #3, Tyree Johnson (RS-So.; 6-4, 250; 67.2)

#93, Max Wright (So.; 6-4, 262; 53.9) OR #40 Tyree Wilson (RS-Fr.; 6-6, 260; 72)

BUCK: #19, Anthony Hines (RS-So.; 6-3, 226; 53.2)

#32, Andre White (Fr.; 6-3, 225; 60.9)

MIKE: #1, Buddy Johnson (Jr.; 6-2, 228; 56.6)

#12, Braden White (Jr.; 5-11, 224; 69.2) OR #33 Aaron Hansford (RS-Jr.; 6-3, 240; 71.4)

ROVER: #20, Ikenna Okeke (RS-So.; 6-3, 225; 64.7)

#24, Chris Russell (Fr.; 6-2, 220; n/a)

NICKEL: #22 Clifford Chattman (RS-Jr.; 6-5, 192; 63.5)

#7, Devin Morris (RS-So.; 6-1, 192; 67.8)

CB: #10, Myles Jones (Jr.; 6-4, 185; 66.1)

#21, Charles Oliver (Sr.; 6-2, 196; 63.2)

S: #9, Leon O’Neal (So.; 6-1, 206; 37) OR #14 Keldrick Carper (Jr.; 6-2, 200; 62.1)

S: #26, Demani Richardson (Fr.; 6-1, 210; 65.9)

#25 Brian Williams (Fr.; 6-1, 218; 56.4)

CB: #2 Elijah Blades (Jr.-TR; 6-2, 185; 72.4)

#29, Debione Renfro (Jr.; 6-2, 198; 62.6)

South Carolina: WRs Bryan Edwards (knee) and Shi Smith are probable; RB Tavien Feaster, and WRs OrTre Smith and A.J. Turner are, in the words of Will Muschamp, "between questionable and doubtful". OL Jaylen Nichols (leg) is out, as are WR Hank Vann (broken hand) and TE Nick Muse (torn ACL).

Texas A&M: CB Elijah Blades (shoulder) and S Demani Richardson (wrist) are probable; DE Max Wright (neck) is doubtful.

Rushing: Feaster, 112 carries for 625 yards (5.6 YPC), 5 TD

Dowdle, 92 carries for 466 yards (5.1 YPC), 4 TD

Denson, 39 carries for 232 yards (5.9 YPC), 3 TD

Passing: Hilinski, 204-338 (60.4%), 2,077 yards, 11 TD, 4 INT

Joyner, 13-24 (54.2%), 128 yards

Receiving: Edwards, 71 catches for 816 yards (11.5 YPC), 6 TD

Smith, 36 catches for 408 yards (11.3 YPC), 2 TD

Markway, 23 catches, 263 yards (11.4 YPC), 2 TD

Tackles: Buddy Johnson, 58

Richardson, 47

Hines, 45

Tackles for loss: Madubuike, 8.5

Buddy Johnson, 8

Hines, 5

Sacks: Madubuike, 3.5

Tyree Johnson and Peevy, 2

Tyree Wilson and Blades, 1.5

Forced fumbles: Five players with 1

Fumble recoveries: Four players with 1

Interceptions: Jones and Roney Elam, 2

Six players with 1

Passes broken up: Oliver, 5

Chattman, 4

Blades and Jones, 3

Scoring offense: 26 PPG (87th nationally, 10th SEC)

Rushing offense: 168.2 YPG (63th, 7th)

Passing offense: 234.7 YPG (66th, 5th)

Total offense: 402.9 YPG (71st, 9th)

First downs: 208 (45th, 6th)

3rd down conversions: 33.8% (114th, 13th)

4th down conversions: 52.2% (71st, 5th)

Sacks allowed: 22 (78th, 10th)

Red zone offense: 77% (101st, 9th)

Turnovers lost: 13 (55th, 7th)

Turnover margin: +3 (45th, 4th)

Time of possession: 28:07 (109th, 13th)

Scoring defense: 21.9 PPG (34th nationally, 7th SEC)

Rushing yards allowed: 142.1 YPG (49th, 9th)

Passing yards allowed: 193 YPG (23rd, 5th)

Total defense: 335.1 YPG (29th, 5th)

3rd down conversion defense: 33.1% (28th, 4th)

Red zone defense: 80% (37th, 8th)

Tackles for loss: 62 (30th, 3rd)

Sacks: 18 (74th, 10th)

Turnovers forced: 14 (54th, 7th)

Turnover margin: +1 (58th, 10th)

Establish the run, something they have not done in two of the past three weeks. The Gamecocks ran for 78 yards against Tennessee and 56 against Appalachian State and lost both games. They ran for more than 200 yards against Vanderbilt and won easily. But with Feaster likely out for Saturday’s game, the running game again could be a real issue for South Carolina. Dowdle and Denson have not done much over the past month, forcing Hilinski to carry the load on his shoulders.

The Carolina running game likes to run behind or off tackle. They use a zone blocking scheme and try to double down on the linemen where the run is supposed to go. They also like to pull their guards to have them lead the backs into the hole. It worked really well against the likes of Kentucky and Vandy, and was swallowed up by Appalachian State.

The passing game consists of a lot of quick passes to the middle of the field. There’s a lot of stick routes and crosses. When they go outside, it tends to be more quick passes, essentially making them glorified running plays. The Gamecocks want the ball out of Hilinski’s hands quickly for at least two reasons: one, making quick reads and throwing makes it easier on a true freshman; second, USC has struggled in pass protection. They’ve given up 22 sacks, including 3 last weekend to Appalachian State. Florida and Tennessee also picked up 3 sacks each. In Carolina’s only win in a month, they allowed no sacks to Vanderbilt. Edwards is an outstanding wideout and a physical specimen while Smith has the speed to get deep, but that part of the passing game has not been utilized very much.

The Gamecocks want to run and hit the quick passes on first down to stay positive. If they get into second and third and long, they struggle mightily. They have consistently found themselves there in road games and have been hard-pressed to score points as a result.

If you read the part on what USC wants to do, this is self-explanatory: win first down. The Aggies have struggled against running quarterbacks and motion; that’s not how USC does things. Hilinski doesn’t run. It’ll be up to Dowdle and Denson to carry the load if Feaster can’t go. Carolina has struggled across the offensive line, but especially in the middle. It will be vital for Justin Madubuike, Jayden Peevy and Bobby Brown to dominate. If they can, it will disrupt the development of the running plays. The rapid improvement of DeMarvin Leal is also a big deal. If he can hold his ground when USC runs at him, then they will have real problems.

Anthony Hines and Buddy Johnson have started to really come into their own in run defense and they’ll be needed Saturday. If the A&M front can string out the run, they can make the tackles near the point of attack. They’ll also have to come up and attack the receivers when they run the quick outs.

A lot of pressure is going to be on A&M’s nickels and safeties in this one. USC loves to throw the ball in the middle of the field, so they’ll have to keep things in front of them, tackle well and hopefully knock a few passes away. If they can do that, USC in trouble.

It makes sense to think A&M will blitz Hilinski a lot, especially on 3rd and long. USC runs a lot of the same routes over and over, so the Aggies could key on those and send an extra defender or two after Hilinski. He’s a very good freshman, but still a freshman and different looks could be an issue for him.

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