South Carolina Preview

South Carolina Preview


Auburn returns to SEC play Saturday when South Carolina comes to town. This will be the toughest test the team has faced thus far this season. South Carolina is coming off a win over Furman as well as a big win over Georgia. This Steve Spurrier coached team doesn’t act like a typical Spurrier coached team. This team has been really good running the football while somewhat questionable through the air. They have a really good running back in true freshman Marcus Lattimore. He is really good, especially for a freshman and plays very physical. South Carolina also has some really good, and really tall, receivers. I have never been impressed with their QB however he is experienced. Finally, their defense is much improved and held Georgia when the game was on the line.

 Keys to the game:


• Auburn must stop Lattimore and the USC rushing attack. I think Auburn should be able to do this. If Nick Fairley and the rest of the line play up to their potential, we may be able to limit the number of rushing yards and force them to pass. I’d rather put the game in the QB Garcia’s hands, however…


• USC receivers are really big, tall and talented. This worries me A LOT. Our secondary has had its share of problems this year and will not match up well with these big receivers. In order to limit their effectiveness we must get a rush on the QB.


• The Auburn offense must step up and store some points. We must establish the run, however USC is really good at stopping the run (1st in the SEC at stopping the run) and stopped Georgia’s run game effectively. Cam must complete those short-intermediate passes and look for the open receiver.


• Atmosphere – This is USC’s first away game and the first for Marcus Lattimore. Auburn must take advantage of the crowd and “protect our house”. I’d also like to show Lattimore what he missed in not coming to AU.


Overall this will be a tough game. South Carolina is looking to make a statement in the SEC East and I expect Spurrier to have them ready to play. The Auburn coaches have put extra emphasis this week on playing tough, physical football and this will be a big test for this coaching staff. I think this week we find out how good they are. They have to get the team focused after a hard-fought, physical, and emotional game. They also have to find a way to get everyone going in the first quarter and then make adjustments on the fly. A win Saturday will be huge for this staff and the confidence of this team.


I would like to say that Auburn wins Saturday, however as of now I see the USC receivers vs AU secondary potentially being too much of a mismatch for Auburn, especially given the coach on the other sideline is Steve Spurrier. If USC is able to exploit this mismatch then I see USC winning a very close game.