The South Carolina Gamecocks will look to bounce back from last week’s letdown against LSU this Saturday, as they welcome the Akron Zips to Columbia for a 7:30 PM showdown. The Zips will enter the contest as heavy underdogs, with Vegas currently listing them as four-touchdown underdogs.
Carolina on the other hand will be looking to secure their first three-and-one start to a season since 2017. With injury concerns looming on offense though, the Gamecocks will have to tread carefully in order to avoid a similar situation to the one they found themselves in week one against James Madison.
Do the Zips have what it takes to make Carolina sweat, or will this be the blowout everybody is expecting? Let’s find out in this week’s South Carolina Gamecocks matchup preview.
Rough Season Thus far for Akron
The first three weeks of the season have not been kind to Akron. The Zips embarrassingly dropped first two games to Big Ten opponents Ohio State, and Rutgers. The combined score of both contests was 101-23 against the Zips.
Akron did manage to secure their first win of the season last weekend however, defeating FCS opponent Colgate by a score of 31-20. Now they have to turn right back around and play against their third Power Four program in four weeks. When asked about the challenges posed by such a rigorous early schedule, Akron head coach Joe Moorhead was blunt.
“You know what you’re getting into when you play those games,” Moorhead said. “You never say those games don’t matter, but you understand the difficulty of competing. They’re 18- to 21-year-old kids, and as much as you say, ‘All right, we’re just going to go in and compete and fight our butts off,’ at the end of the day, two losses are two losses, no matter whether it’s against the No. 2 team in the country or whoever it’s against.”
There’s no doubt Akron will be facing an uphill battle Saturday, but the Zips do have some talented players on their roster. Let’s take a closer look at just who those players are, and what potential problems they could pose for the Gamecocks.
Playmakers on Offense
The first player to look out for when it comes to the Zips is starting quarterback Ben Finely. The redshirt junior brings a good amount of experience to the table, as he made stops at both N.C. State and Cal over the past three years. Finley is also coming off his best performance at Akron last weekend, in which he threw for 358 yards and four touchdowns.
Obviously, Colgate is a far cry from what Finley will see on Saturday against the Gamecocks. If Carolina gives him too much time in the pocket though, he has the potential to burn them deep. Keeping the savvy gunslinger in check will be a top priority for the Gamecocks on defense.
Another name on offense to watch is Finley’s leading receiver Adrian Norton. After not playing much last season, Norton has emerged as Akron’s best deep threat on the outside. The six-foot 180-pound receiver has blistering speed and is also great at making contested catches. Carolina’s secondary will have to make sure they know where he is at all times. If they don’t Norton can easily find his way behind everyone for a big play.
Physical Zips Defensive Front
Akron’s defensive front presents what’s most likely to be the biggest thorn in Carolina’s side come Saturday. The Zips play a very physical brand of football up front, which can make it difficult for opponents to run the ball.
We saw a prime example of this in week one against Ohio State. The Buckeyes running back room, a group that many consider to be the best in the country, could only muster 170 yards against Akron. South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer touched on this when discussing the matchup.
“They present problems,” Beamer said. “They play really, really hard, and made it really tough on Ohio State to run the football in the first half.”
Given that Carolina’s entire offensive identity currently revolves around running the ball, it will be interesting to see how they are able to counter the Zips defense. If the Gamecocks are unable to establish their run game early, they could find themselves in a dogfight with an ultra-physical Akron front.
Injury Concerns for Sellers
Carolina left last Saturday with some battle wounds, and quarterback LaNorris Sellers was no exception. Late in the first half Sellers suffered a fairly significant ankle sprain. This resulted in Sellers being benched for almost all of the second half.
Many had hoped that the injury wasn’t as severe as it initially appeared to be, but this unfortunately does not appear to be the case. The redshirt freshman was seen around campus in a cast for most of the week and was also unable to practice. Reports did surface on Wednesday that stated Sellers was out of the cast but also said that he was limited in practice.
When asked about the availability of his quarterback for this Saturday, Beamer appeared to leave it up in the air.
“We told Robby and Davis that they will continue to compete this week,” Beamer said. “LaNorris assures me he is good and will be ready to roll. Robby went into the LSU game as the second quarterback and came out of the LSU game as the second quarterback.”
Sellers saying he’s ready to play is one thing, but it really all comes down to what the training staff has to say. If they decide he can’t play, then Sellers really has no say-so in the matter. Carolina’s staff may also decide it’s best to give their young quarterback an extra week of rest ahead of a much-needed bye week.
Whatever Carolina decides to do more than likely won’t be announced until shortly before kickoff. If Sellers is unable to play, then the Gamecocks will be in more than capable hands with their experienced backup at the helm.
Final Thoughts
On paper, Carolina should have little issue running up the score on a MAC opponent. This is also however what Notre Dame thought a couple of weeks ago as well. Beamer and his staff are unlikely to have let this fact slip past their team though. The Gamecocks also had their own struggles against a group of five teams in week one. This is sure to be fresh in the minds of everyone on the Carolina sideline as well.
The uncertain status of Sellers does represent some cause for concern. Even without him though, Carolina should have all they need to roll the Zips. It all comes down to neutralizing Finely and imposing their will at the line of scrimmage. If they can do these two things, then Saturday should be a rather easy day in Columbia heading into the bye week.
