Five burning questions for USC-Texas A&M: If not a win, how about progress?
On Saturday, South Carolina football will take the field against Texas A&M, searching for a win in its final SEC game of the season to keep its chances of making a bowl alive.
The Aggies, meanwhile, will be gearing up for a brutal final stretch in which they play away games against No. 4 Georgia and No. 1 LSU.
With the Gamecocks’ own big rivalry game looming against Clemson, here are five of the main questions facing coach Will Muschamp and USC this weekend.
Is the run game dormant without Tavien Feaster again?
Senior running backs Tavien Feaster and A.J. Turner will not play against the Aggies — Muschamp first called them “questionable to doubtful” on Tuesday, then downgraded them to outright “doubtful” Wednesday, then ruled them out Thursday.
Feaster’s absence especially hits hard. Without him, the Gamecocks managed just 21 yards on 27 attempts against Appalachian State. Even adjusted for sacks, USC averaged fewer than two yards per carry. Senior Rico Dowdle had little in the way of protection or backup.
Texas A&M’s run defense is pedestrian — ninth in the SEC in yards per game, 10th in yards per carry. But the Aggies have top SEC talent, and App State, which does not, still managed to push around Carolina’s front line.
How will the receiving corps look?
Bryan Edwards and Shi Smith will be available for the Gamecocks, giving Muschamp his top two receiving threats back, along with veteran anchor tight end Kyle Markway. But both players are coming back from injuries and might be less than 100% health-wise.
Behind them, South Carolina’s receiving depth is perilously thin, as it was last week, and that didn’t end well. Muschamp and Edwards both mentioned A&M’s lengthy and tough cornerbacks this week as challenges, but the top guys will need to help QB Ryan Hilinski out, especially if the run game struggles again, and Edwards can’t do it alone.
Can the Gamecocks get to Kellen Mond?
It’s a similar point to last week, but when South Carolina forces turnovers, it usually translates to wins — the Gamecocks have 11 takeaways, including nine interceptions, in four wins, and just five turnovers and three picks in six losses.
Enter Kellen Mond, the talented quarterback for Texas A&M. He got off to a slow start that included a disappointing performance against Clemson, but over the last six games he’s completed 64% of his passes and thrown 12 touchdowns to three interceptions.
He’s also a dual threat, putting up more than 75 yards rushing in three of the last four games. The Gamecock defense did a good job of containing a similar player in App State’s Zac Thomas, and they’ll have to replicate that performance against Mond.
Will Carolina’s bowl hopes finally be extinguished?
After so many weeks of playing “desperate,” South Carolina is now truly playing with its back against the wall — at 4-6, the Gamecocks cannot afford another loss if they want to go to a bowl game.
Muschamp has made three consecutive bowls to start his USC tenure, an accomplishment no other coach in program history has reached. But South Carolina’s bowl hopes now are hanging on by a thread, and some of the embattled coach’s critics would undoubtedly point to a losing record as unacceptable in Year 4.
President Robert Caslen told The Greenville News that Muschamp “will be my coach through the end of the season” and then receive the usual evaluation. A loss Saturday would raise the heat under Muschamp’s seat.
How important is keeping it respectable?
Related to the point above, South Carolina enters this game as an 11-point underdog. If USC does in fact lose, keeping things competitive might help Muschamp placate a fan base that has lost faith. Any sign of progress, however little, is something he can point to.
On the other hand, if the Gamecocks let things get away from them, some fans will take it as another sign the program is in a tailspin. With a date against Clemson drawing closer and closer, the chance of full-blown panic could grow exponentially.
