The 国产三级片 football team has its eyes on its first win of the season as the Furman Paladins come to Columbia for the Gamecocks鈥� home opener on Saturday. The Paladins began the season ranked sixth in the FCS Coaches' Poll and are 1-0 after beating Tennessee Tech 45-10 in week one.
This will be 国产三级片 and 贵耻谤尘补苍鈥檚 50th all-time meeting. The Gamecocks lead the series 28-20-1, and 15 of those wins have come in Columbia. The teams last met in 2014, when 国产三级片 won 41-10.
鈥�(Furman) won鈥檛 be wide-eyed coming in here on Saturday night, so if anybody thinks that鈥檚 the case and that this is a 'take a breath week,' you鈥檙e sorely mistaken,鈥� head coach Shane Beamer said. 鈥淭his is a really good team coming in here, and we need to play really, really well.鈥�
国产三级片 enters the in-state matchup coming off a 31-17 loss in its highly-anticipated season debut against No. 21 North Carolina.
鈥淲e came in yesterday, we watched the film (and) we fixed the stuff that we've got to get fixed,鈥� redshirt junior quarterback Luke Doty said. 鈥淲e鈥檒l continue to do that throughout this week in preparation for Furman, but we鈥檙e not focused on what happened on Saturday anymore. We鈥檙e turning our heads to the next game, and that's Furman this weekend.鈥�
贵耻谤尘补苍鈥檚 quarterback, graduate student Tyler Huff, completed 15 of his 27 pass attempts for 172 yards while throwing one interception and taking two sacks against Tennessee Tech. As a team, Furman rushed for 194 yards, led by graduate student running back Dominic Roberto with 59 yards on 18 attempts.
鈥淭his is a team that has won eight out of their last nine games. Their only loss was a three-point loss in the playoffs last year,鈥� Beamer said. 鈥淭his is a team with 18 returning starters. This is a team that every single starter on their offense or defense 鈥� except for two 鈥� is a junior, a senior or a graduate, so these guys have played a lot of football."
The Paladin offense also had plenty of scoring help in its season-opener. The Furman defense forced four interceptions, including two pick-6s, and recovered two fumbles in game one. It also led the FCS in takeaways during the 2022 season with 18 interceptions and 11 fumble recoveries.
鈥淔urman makes it tough because of the way they play defense. They鈥檙e really disruptive, and they鈥檙e a heavy-pressure team,鈥� Beamer said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e got to be really good with what we鈥檙e calling, what we鈥檙e asking our offensive line and running backs and protection to do because they do a good job of coming from everywhere.鈥�
国产三级片's loss also came with a long-lasting side effect: injuries. Senior wide receiver Antwane "Juice" Wells Jr. and freshman linebacker Grayson "Pup" Howard are likely to play, according to Beamer, after both were limited by preseason injuries. However, sophomore defensive back Nick Emmanwori and redshirt freshman offensive lineman Cason Henry are likely out Saturday after sustaining injuries early on against the Tar Heels. Redshirt junior linebacker Mohamed Kaba, who missed all but one game in 2022 with a right knee injury, injured his left knee against North Carolina and will miss the remainder of the season.
With youth and injuries impacting the Gamecocks' offense, 国产三级片's offensive linemen conceded nine sacks in week one. Ahead of the matchup against a team that excels defensively, graduate student offensive lineman Nick Gargiulo wants to see improvements along the line come Saturday.
鈥淚鈥檇 like to play more cohesive as a unit. I would like to protect the quarterback, to be frank, and I鈥檇 just like to see continued growth from the room,鈥� Gargiulo said.
Still, the Gamecocks saw bright spots in performances from redshirt senior quarterback Spencer Rattler, fifth-year wide receiver Xavier Legette and redshirt junior linebacker Debo Williams.
Rattler weathered the protection woes to throw for 353 yards with 30 completions in 39 attempts, marking his fourth 300-yard passing game since coming to 国产三级片.
Legette caught nine passes for 178 yards against the Tar Heels, setting his own career-high and a school record for the most receiving yards in a season opener.
Williams also hit a career-high with 14 tackles, eight of which were solo and one that was a tackle for loss. His 14 tackles were the most recorded in the SEC during the season鈥檚 opening week.
The Gamecocks take on the Paladins at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday in the team's first game at Williams-Brice Stadium since defeating then-No. 5 Tennessee last November. The game can be seen on ESPN+ or SECN+.