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Unranked South Carolina will host No. 12 Ole Miss this Saturday at 3:30 as the Rebels look to secure their first SEC win.
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Coming off the bye week, a now-healthy South Carolina squad will face an Ole Miss team that’s coming off its first loss of the season. South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer announced in his Tuesday press conference that quarterback LaNorris Sellers and running back Raheim Sanders are both “on track” play this week after suffering an injury during the LSU game in Week 3.
Sanders suffered a leg injury against Akron before the bye week, but with an extra week to heal, Gamecock fans are hopeful that returning two of their best playmakers could get the Gamecocks back on track.
Ole Miss Preview
Coming into the year – even through the first four weeks – fans in Oxford Mississippi had real dreams of an SEC Championship. Although the Rebels led the FBS in scoring through four weeks, averaging 55 points per game, they opened up conference play last week with a 20-17 loss to unranked Kentucky. Even after that, the Rebels march to Columbia touting the No. 1 total offense in the nation.
Despite finishing the game with 353 total yards to Kentucky’s 336, the Rebels lack of offensive efficiency (1-for-10 on third down) proved costly. On the year, the Rebels have struggled on third down, converting at just 47.2%. The defense, however, has been much more consistent. The Rebels find themselves with the No. 1 rushing defense, allowing only 93 rushing yards in last week’s loss. The key for Ole Miss is to control the line of scrimmage as they’ve done all year, earning them the No. 3 spot in the nation in team sacks with an average of 3.6 per game.
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Rebels to look for:
Here’s South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer on the Rebels depth on defense:
Jaxon Dart: The senior QB found himself in preseason Heisman polls and looked the part through the first four weeks, but a poor performance against Kentucky knocked him down the list. However, Dart still comes into Week 5 as the No. 1 QB in total passing yards (1,815) and passing efficiency (208.47) with a chance to bounce back during the remainder of SEC play.
Princely Umanmielen: After spending four years at the University of Florida, the senior defensive end comes into the game leading the Rebels in total sacks with 3.5 (21st in the nation). Once you take into account that South Carolina is currently 130th in the nation in sacks allowed with an average of 4 per game, you should expect another great performance from the veteran transfer.
South Carolina Preview:
The Gamecocks open up a daunting October schedule starting with the Rebels, then two road games at No. 1 Alabama and at No. 19 Oklahoma. Unlike Ole Miss, South Carolina dismantled Kentucky when they faced off in Week 2, 31-6. In Week 3, the Gamecocks fell to No. 13 LSU 36-33 in a battle that came down to the wire where they missed a field goal to push overtime.
The Gamecocks have struggled all year with third down conversions, finding themselves at 117th in the nation, converting on only 16 of 54 attempts. Regardless of who’s playing at QB, the Gamecocks offense will offer a much different challenge on offense.
“[South Carolina has] Very different player types than last week,” Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin said. “Polar opposite. And very different schemes, too … they are more built on speed and twitch.”
Gamecocks to Look For
RB Henry Parrish Jr.: The senior tailback has been fantastic on the ground with 489 yards and 8 touchdowns, good for 2nd in the SEC and 17th in the nation. Ole Miss fans know him all too well from his career-high 232-yard rushing game against the Rebels in 2022.
QB LaNorris Sellers: The redshirt freshman QB started South Carolina’s first three games until suffering an ankle injury against LSU. Although he missed the Akron game in the following week, both QBs are a dual-threat option that can scramble out of a collapsing pocket and get chunk gains with his legs.
LaNoris Sellers is electric.
Q Power read off Jet Motion for 75 yards. House call.
— Last of the Fullbacks (@TheLastFullback) September 14, 2024
