South Carolina is coming off its bye week as it prepares to take on the Furman Paladins. The Gamecocks are hoping to turn things around after achieving just a 3-3 record in the first half of the season.

Here are the good and the bad numbers for the Gamecocks heading into Week 8.

THE GOOD

287: rushing yards by Mike Davis over the last two games. The junior running back was considered a darkhorse Heisman candidate heading into the season, but an injury caused a slow start. However, Davis has exploded in the last two games, rushing for 287 yards in the last two games, including a career-high 183 rushing yards against South Carolina.

25: first downs per game. The Gamecocks are third in the SEC behind only Texas A&M and Mississippi State, who averaged 28 and 25.3 first downs per game, respectively.

101.9: average passing yards allowed by South Carolina in the last two games. The Gamecocks secondary was torched early on in the season, but the defensive backs have turned in two of their best performances of the season against the Gamecocks’ last two opponents — perhaps a sign the secondary is improving.

THE BAD

21: unanswered points by Kentucky in South Carolina’s last game. The Gamecocks imploded on defense in the fourth quarter and were unable to stop a deadly Wildcat formation led by running back Jojo Kemp

3: road games left for the Gamecocks on the season. Unfortunately for Steve Spurrier’s team, two of those games are against currently ranked teams — Auburn and Clemson. The Gamecocks will certainly have their work cut out for them in their remaining portion of the schedule.

2: games this season in which South Carolina has recorded more than one sack. The woes at defensive line have been well-documented as this position group continues to grow without its key players from last season. One would think a big game from the defensive line against Furman would give them such much-needed confidence heading into a road game against Auburn next week.