South Carolina’s 4-5 record has disappointed fans considering the preseason expectations heaped upon the Gamecocks, but quietly one of their primary weapons is having an outstanding season.

Quarterback Dylan Thompson is on his way to not only leading the SEC in several major passing categories, but the senior signal caller is on pace to break single-season school records in passing yardage and touchdowns.

While South Carolina’s struggles can be mainly attributed to the defense, it has been the offensive unit picking up the slack. The Gamecocks rank second in the SEC in passing offense (294.6 ypg) and fifth in scoring offense (35.9 ppg). With Thompson playing a huge role in South Carolina’s offensive production, Florida head coach Will Muschamp expects his defense will be tested by one of the best offenses on the Gators’ schedule.

“Offensively, they’ve been outstanding this year,” Muschamp said earlier in the week. “The best offense we’ve faced in my opinion to date this season. Dylan Thompson’s playing very well, has 22 touchdown passes, really throwing the ball now.”

“So we’ve got our work cut out for us defensively,” he added, “we really do, a team that’s as balanced as they are, as good a job as coach does calling plays.”

Despite this being Thompson’s first full season as a starter, the Boiling Springs, S.C., native has made the transition seamlessly. Thompson sits at 2,588 passing yards and 22 touchdowns, both good for second in the SEC. He needs only 618 passing yards and seven touchdowns to become statistically the most prolific passer in South Carolina history. At his current averages of 287.6 yards per game and 2.4 touchdowns per game, he could set the records with a game to spare.

“He is, definitely, our best quarterback,” South Carolina head coach Steve Spurrier said to GoGamecocks.com. “He has had a few bad plays here and there, but he’s had a few good plays, too, simple as that. Heck, he’s played well overall. Played very well.”

So what does that mean for Florida? The Gators’ young defensive backs better be ready.

Florida’s secondary struggled early on in the season. Despite several players from last year, including All-American cornerback Vernon Hargreaves, the Gators were torched through the air thanks to numerous communication breakdowns.

In recent weeks, the secondary has come on strong thanks to the improved play of freshman Jalen Tabor, Quincy Wilson and Duke Dawson, all three of whom Muschamp praised earlier this week.

“Quincy and Jalen I’ve been very pleased with, what they’ve done and how they’ve produced and improved and gotten better all the time,” Muschamp said. “From a mental standpoint, we put a lot more on our safeties. I thought Duke did a great job [against Vanderbilt] communicating and being on the same page with the other safeties … athletically, Duke is extremely talented. He’s got a huge future here at Florida.”

With South Carolina’s passing numbers, there’s likely no other team that Florida has play or will play that will test its secondary like the Gamecocks will on Saturday. Fortunately for the Gators, the passing defense has never been better with the secondary allowing just three passing touchdowns and intercepting five passes in its last five games.

A similar effort from Florida’s defensive backs — if not a better performance — will be a necessity if the Gators want to keep South Carolina off the scoreboard and stay in the SEC East race with their third straight win.