South Carolina’s starters get no rest against Troy
The no. 17 South Carolina Gamecocks, who have already clinched their South Eastern Conference (SEC) east division title will be in action on Saturday 20 November against the Troy Trojans, who currently sit at 5-4 overall and 4-2 in conference in the
Sun Belt Conference.
Troy’s season to date
It has been a roller-coaster ride of sorts for the Trojans this season. They opened with a victory over Bowling Green, 30-27, but were defeated in the following two weeks, losing to Oklahoma State 41-38 and the University of Alabama-Birmingham, 34-33.
They responded to their losses reeling off three straight wins over Arkansas State, Middle Tennessee, and Louisiana-Lafayette. Their streak was snapped by Louisiana-Monroe, 28-14, on 30 October.
The Trojans responded with a victory over North Texas, but followed that up with a loss last weekend to Sun Belt Conference leader Florida International, 52-35.
"It's an embarrassment to come out like that in front of our home crowd," sophomore defensive end Jonathan Massaquoi said to espn.go.com. "It all just came down to who wanted it the most."
South Carolina’s season so far
The Gamecocks started the year with a three-game winning streak over Southern Mississippi, Georgia and Furman. In week four, they ran into still undefeated Auburn and received their first loss of the season, 35-27.
After a bye week, the Gamecocks hosted former number one Alabama and were victorious, 35-21, but had a lacklustre showing the following week against Kentucky, losing 31-28.
They followed the loss to the Wildcats up with two straight victories, first coming against Vanderbilt and then Tennessee.
They received another loss, this time to Arkansas who won easily over the Gamecocks, 41-20. However, the Gamecocks could still wrap up the east division of the SEC with a victory over Florida, and that is exactly what happened last weekend, as the Gamecocks
took care of business with a 36-14 win.
Gamecocks keys to victory
Who will be playing and who will be sitting? The guys who need the most rest should sit this one out as they will need their strength for the SEC title game but head coach Steve Spurrier has hinted that he will not be resting any of his starters.
In that case, freshman running back Marcus Lattimore carried this team to victory last weekend with his 40 touches for 212 yards and three touchdowns. He can expect to see more of those types of numbers in this week’s game.
Defensively, they will be facing Troy and their 13th ranked passing attack. The Gamecock secondary will be looking for turnovers all day to add to their team total of 16.
"(Troy is) real good, very efficient," defensive coordinator Lorenzo Ward said according to espn.go.com. "It'll be a big test to see how much we've improved."
Trojans keys to victory
The Trojans will need to use more of their rushing game to open up holes downfield for freshman quarterback Corey Robinson to exercise his 296.2 yards per game aerial assault. He will need the usage of play-action fakes to freeze the secondary, and
also a tough offensive line to give him ample time to make the right decision with the football.
Defensively, they are allowing an average of 31.3 points per game, way too much especially when playing against a refined offence of South Carolina. They will need to tighten up and have bigger efforts from all involved. If the defensive line can get after
Gamecock quarterback Stephen Garcia, they will be effective in causing turnovers.
Prediction
Gamecocks coach Spurrier will play his starters for the first half, but sit a few of them for the second.
South Carolina 28 – Troy 21
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