Opponent preview: SC State heads into weeknight tilt with Gamecocks

SC State stole headlines when it took down Deion Sanders’ Jackson State in the Celebration Bowl last December. It became a historic win in head coach Buddy Pough’s three-decade tenure with the Bulldogs.

But that was last year. With loftier expectations in 2022, SC State is off to a sluggish start, sitting at 1-2 with losses to UCF and North Carolina A&T. It will only get tougher as the Bulldogs will face South Carolina Thursday night.

“Every week, we don’t spend a ton of time talking about the other team but we also made them very aware (Tuesday) morning that this is a very talented team,” Beamer said. “There was a high draft pick last year on their team. They’re going to have players get drafted off this year’s team. We’ve got so many guys on our team from South Carolina, they know what South Carolina State’s program is about without a doubt.”

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After a slow start, the Gamecocks found a way to halt Charlotte’s offense. They held them to six points in the second half last Saturday. As SEC play looms, the defense will have another opportunity to build up their confidence.

SC State returns many of last year’s top offensive weapons. Despite this, the Bulldogs still haven’t clicked as a unit. They’ve averaged 21.5 points per game with a bottom-five passing offense in the FCS to show for it.

At the helm is senior quarterback Corey Fields. He was underwhelming at best in the first two games this season but had a career day with 316 yards and four touchdowns against NC A&T last week. However, he also threw two interceptions, which plays well for the Gamecocks who forced three 49ers turnovers.

“It builds it really high, just making sure we’re getting hands-on balls and stuff like that and just knowing that our big dudes are gonna go and rush the quarterback and go get us tips,” Cam Smith said. “We’re going to come down with them so it really just builds a bond throughout the whole defense that we know we’re going to get a turnover.”

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To stop Fields though, South Carolina will have to make wide receiver Shaquan Davis a non-factor in SC State’s game plans.

When Davis touches the ball, he instantly becomes the player that teams struggle to stop. Through two weeks, he had only caught three passes for 122 yards and two touchdowns. Once Fields started to play better, Davis was given more targets. He hauled in six catches for 127 yards and a touchdown against NC A&T.

South Carolina’s defense hasn’t been bad stopping the pass, with Georgia’s Brock Bowers being the only player to record at least 100 receiving yards in a game. The team knows how good Davis can be if he isn’t slowed down.

“He’s a big dude, big physical receiver, gonna go get the ball at the highest point,” Smith said. “So, you just gotta make sure you stand on top of the receiver and make sure you don’t give them those easy back shoulders and stuff like that. It’s just simple stuff with him that if you don’t do, he will make you look bad.”

The Bulldogs will look to see a bigger outing from Kendrell Flowers in their backfield. While he made one catch for six yards, he never carried the ball in last week’s loss. The team ran the ball 22 times for 12 yards.

Flowers has been the main source in the team’s running game, as he’s tallied 156 yards and two touchdowns this season.

Similarly to Charlotte, SC State doesn’t have a standout defense. The Bulldogs have been especially bad in the run game, where they’ve allowed 6.10 yards per rush and 256.3 yards per game with seven touchdowns.

Coincidentally, the Gamecocks are coming off their best rushing performance of the season. Marshawn Lloyd broke out for 169 of the group’s 295 rushing yards, with three scores. Christian Beal-Smith saw his first true opportunity to be with the offense. He finished with 55 yards and two touchdowns on nine carries.

“He’s getting his footing back,” Eric Douglas said about Beal-Smith. “He’s another dude we’ve been in the game a long time. It just reminded me of back when we was playing in the Shrine Bowl. I mean, he looked like how he did when he was out there. So, just gotta keep going and keep producing and practicing and the results will show on Thursday or Saturday.”

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On top of running the ball well, South Carolina’s red zone execution was nearly perfect last week. The Gamecocks were 7-for-8 in those opportunities. Opposing teams have combined to score 10 touchdowns and a field goal in 11 red zone tries against SC State.

Beamer feels confident in the run game and the other weapons that can help get into the endzone more.

“It’s continuing to run the ball efficiently, continue to get the ball to those multiple playmakers that we have on our offense, and just get better in the passing game as well,” Beamer said.

Regardless of being an HBCU and FCS school, the Gamecocks still treat the Bulldogs just like any other opponent. With No. 7 Kentucky on deck, it’s going to be important for them to come ready to go.

“We know how important this game is to them and our state and us as well,” Shane Beamer said. “So, we’ve got to have a really quick preparation, but a solid preparation, cause this is a talented team coming in here that’ll be excited to play on Thursday night as well.”

South Carolina and SC State will kick off from Williams-Brice Stadium at 7 p.m. Thursday night. The game will be televised on SEC Network with Dave Neal, Aaron Murray and Alyssa Lang on the call.

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