After an impressive comeback victory over Louisiana Tech, the South Carolina football team is looking to ride that momentum into Kyle Field when it takes on Texas A&M on Saturday.
The matchup kicks off a crucial stretch of six straight SEC games.
“I don't think there's any question that this is the most explosive offense we’ve had to face all year,” head coach Will Muschamp said.
The Aggies are coming off a 50-point performance against Arkansas. Freshman quarterback Kellen Mond threw for 216 yards and two touchdowns, while adding a team-high 109 yards on the ground to jump-start the Texas A&M offense that had been struggling to find its rhythm since the season-opener against UCLA.
“It’s always hard to defend a mobile quarterback, because you're outnumbered when it comes to blockers and stuff," linebacker Skai Moore said. "Someone has to win on a block. It's a little difficult but you just gotta make plays and so you just gotta make it happen."
The Gamecocks will need to be locked in defensively if they want to limit the impact the dual threat could have on the game.
Not only do the Gamecocks have to be able to contain the young quarterback, but also they have to account for the Aggies' running back duo, Keith Ford and Trayveon Williams. Both Williams and Ford have consistently powered their way into the end zone, with a combined nine touchdowns on the season.
"The two backs they’ve got are big-time runners, guys that are going to create space," Muschamp said. "They’ll get in one-on-one matchups, and you don’t want to have to tackle in space and get both of these guys on the ground. They can take the ball anywhere. They run the inside zone extremely well. They can bounce all the way to the backside. They do a fantastic job with both (Keith) Ford and (Trayveon) Williams."
Moore said the Gamecocks have settled into their "bend don't break" identity on defense, and will focus on specific reads to stay ahead of Mond, Ford and Williams.
"At certain times, when they get in their drop, it depends on their movement and the running backs' movement and stuff," Moore said. "See like where he goes and we'll react off that, because usually sometimes, he won't make a certain movement unless it's like a draw or design draw. So when we see that key movement, then we know we'll kind of go hit it, instead of dropping back in coverage and just wait and be patient. We just read those two guys."
Dual threat quarterbacks and dynamic running backs have haunted the Gamecocks over the past few seasons, but this will have to change if they want to make a statement in the SEC East.
One thing's for sure: The South Carolina defense will have its work cut out on Saturday in College Station, especially with one-on-one matchups.
"They’ve got guys that can win in one-on-one situations," Muschamp said. "Again, I think we’ll continue to evolve offensively. We’ll capitalize on more situations that we haven’t the last two weeks and put more points on the board.”