Troy @ South Carolina preview
Williams-Brice Stadium
After its first landmark victory this season, No. 17 South Carolina suffered a major letdown.
The SEC Eastern Division champion Gamecocks will look to avoid a repeat when they host the Troy Trojans in a non-conference game Saturday afternoon at Williams-Brice Stadium.
A week after earning the school's first victory against a top-ranked opponent by beating then-No. 1 Alabama 35-21 on Oct. 9, the Gamecocks slipped up in a 31-28 loss at Kentucky.
That experience should serve as a reminder to the Gamecocks this week, as they look to keep the momentum going after last week's 36-14 win at Florida, which clinched the first SEC Eastern Division title in school history.
The Trojans (5-4, 4-2 Sun Belt) still have conference title hopes of their own, though they took a major hit with last week's 52-35 home loss to Sun Belt leader Florida International. After starting conference play with three consecutive wins, the Trojans have dropped two of their last three.
They might have a tough time turning around that trend against the Gamecocks, who are in the midst of one of the best seasons in school history.
Freshman running back Marcus Lattimore was the driving force behind the Gamecocks' big win in the Swamp last week, rushing for 212 yards on 40 carries and scoring three touchdowns.
Lattimore, who ranks second in the SEC with 107.1 rushing yards per game, needs just 36 rushing yards to become South Carolina's first 1,000-yard rusher since Derek Watson in 2000, and he is tied for the school's single-season touchdown record with 16.
He isn't the only South Carolina offensive star putting up huge numbers.
With 1,087 receiving yards, sophomore Alshon Jeffery has become only the third South Carolina player to top 1,000 yards in a season, joining Sidney Rice (2005, 2006) and Sterling Sharpe (1986). Jeffery leads the SEC and ranks fifth in the nation with 108.7 receiving yards per game. He needs just 56 more yards to break Rice's single-season record of 1,143 set in 2005.
The Gamecocks' defense has also been dominant at times — they rank 34th in the nation in scoring defense at 21.1 points allowed per game and they lead the SEC and rank third in the nation with 3.5 sacks per game — but they have had trouble against the pass, allowing 257.3 passing yards per game. That could cause headaches against Troy, which averages 296.2 passing yards per game.
It's the third meeting all-time between the teams, with South Carolina winning the previous two 17-7 in 2004 and 45-20 in 2005. Both previous meetings were in Columbia.
The Gamecocks are 7-0 all-time against teams from the Sun Belt Conference, and South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier is 41-0 all-time against schools outside the BCS automatic qualifying conferences.