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The Week 6 matchup between No. 7 LSU and South Carolina (2-3, 0-3) has all the makings of being a one-sided affair. Nothing personal to the Gamecocks, but most teams struggle to shut down Leonard Fournette. Whether or not South Carolina can defend its home turf in Columbia will depend on igniting an offense that’s been stagnant for much of the season while hoping the defense can somewhat contain Fournette.
It’s certainly possibly that South Carolina can compete with the Tigers (4-0, 2-0). Eastern Michigan, Syracuse and even Auburn in the second half were able to keep pace with LSU at times. It’ll take a rare complete game from Steve Spurrier’s squad, but we’re sure to get a glimpse of what kind of fight is still left in the Head Ball Coach and his Gamecocks.
Here are five players to keep an eye on when South Carolina plays host to LSU during Week 6 play in Columbia.
1. LSU RB Leonard Fournette — Leonard Fournette trails the entire Gamecocks offense by a mere 87 rushing yards on the season — a fact made more astounding in that the LSU sophomore has played one less game than South Carolina. Fournette leads the nation in rushing with 864 yards and 11 touchdowns. He’s crested the 200-yard mark in each of his last three games and faces a South Carolina defense that gives up an average of 170.0 yards on the ground. Jon Hoke’s defense allowed Georgia’s Nick Chubb to burn the Gamecocks for 159 yards and 2 touchdowns in Week 3. It’s not that far of a stretch to think that Fournette can go for another 200-yard day in Columbia.
2. South Carolina RB Brandon Wilds — The Gamecocks offense has sorely missed Brandon Wilds. The senior running back has sat out the last two games with a cracked rib, but is expected to return to the lineup in Week 6 when South Carolina plays host to LSU. How inept is the Gamecocks rushing offense? Despite missing the last two games, Wilds is still the team’s leading running back with 181 yards on the season — runner-up to quarterback Lorenzo Nunez (299 yards) for the team lead. Even with Wilds in the backfield, don’t expect much offense on the ground as LSU brings with it the No. 19 ranked rush defense in the nation with an average of 106.0 ypg.
3. LSU QB Brandon Harris — Brandon Harris has guided LSU to an unblemished 4-0 record and a spot at No. 7 in the AP Poll — despite having thrown for less than 100 yards in three of the Tigers’ victories. Of course, it’s always nice to turn around and hand the ball off to Leonard Fournette. The sophomore quarterback is coming off his worst performance of the season, technically, in which he connected on just 4 of his 15 passes. Despite the inaccuracy, Harris finished with his second-highest yardage of the season … 80 yards. The Tigers’ Week 6 matchup against the South Carolina secondary might be the perfect cure to get Harris in more of a passing groove. The Gamecocks give up a modest 218.8 ypg, a number that drastically reduces to 187.3 if you remove Georgia quarterback Greyson Lambert’s 330-yard Week 3 victimization of South Carolina’s last line of defense. The Gamecocks secondary will be vulnerable to the pass with all eyes and bodies concentrated on at least slowing Fournette.
4. South Carolina WR Pharoh Cooper — The biggest benefactor of new freshman quarterback Lorenzo Nunez or Perry Orth taking control of the South Carolina offense might be Pharoh Cooper. The duo is slowly building a rapport to get the All-SEC wide receiver back into the offensive mix. Cooper registered his second 100-yard game of the season in Week 5 in the Gamecocks’ 24-10 loss to Missouri. The Havelock, N.C., native needs just two more receptions to tie former Gamecocks receiver Ace Sanders at No. 15 on the program’s all-time list with 99 catches. With the South Carolina season essentially stalled out, the remaining seven games should be all about showcasing Cooper for NFL scouts, because, let’s be honest, he’d be insane to come back next year.
5. South Carolina DE Quandeski “Boosie” Whitlow — The legend of Boosie Whitlow continues to grow. South Carolina hopes the freshman defensive end can fill the pass-rushing void the Gamecocks have been unable to refill since the departure of Jadeveon Clowney. Playing primarily in third-down packages, Whitlow has 4 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, and a sack to go along with three quarterback hurries on the year — with almost of it coming against Central Florida. The 6-foot-3, 240-pound freshman from Opelika, Ala., became a bit of a sensation last week after the win over the Knights when Head Ball Coach Steve Spurrier dropped some science on reporters at his weekly press conference…
Steve Spurrier: “I don’t keep up with a lot of rappers” but says he knows who Lil Boosie is. #Gamecocks
— TheBigSpur.com (@TheBigSpur247) September 29, 2015
Chris Wuensch is a contributing writer for Saturday Down South. He covers South Carolina and Tennessee.
