Final thoughts: South Carolina should escape ECU with a win, but it won’t be easy
And so the first road trip of the season has arrived.
As I sit here writing this column, I’m surrounded by pirates. OK, not literal swashbucklers, but Greenville, North Carolina’s commitment to East Carolina’s mascot is second to none. (Looking at you, Blackbeard Coffee and Blackened Kraken.)
Pirate jokes aside, South Carolina (1-0) plays the inaugural road game of the Shane Beamer era when the Gamecocks take on ECU (0-1) at noon Saturday (ESPN2).
Let me repeat, this game is in Greenville, North Carolina. Don’t be that person that heads to the Upstate of South Carolina instead of the coast this weekend.
USC waltzes into this one having dominated a measly Eastern Illinois team in its season opener.
Defensive coordinator Clayton White’s defense was impenetrable, recording a pair of interceptions, while a third was washed out by a penalty. The Gamecocks also only allowed 109 yards on the night.
Oh yeah, and defensive end Jordan Burch did his best Usain Bolt impression on his 61-yard pick-six that sealed the victory.
Quarterback Zeb Noland was wildly impressive in his Gamecocks debut under center. The former graduate assistant who ascended to starting quarterback in a matter of three weeks finished his night with four touchdown passes on 13 of 22 passing (including four drops).
So what all does Beamer have in his pocket for an encore? That’s TBD.
East Carolina enters Saturday having dropped its season opener to a stingy Appalachian State team quarterbacked by former Clemson quarterback Chase Brice.
The Pirates have a legitimate star at quarterback in Holton Ahlers, a formerly prized mid-level recruit who had most every program in America sniffing around him before the Greenville native chose his hometown squad.
Ahlers has passed for just shy of 7,500 yards in his ECU career and has tossed more than two touchdowns for each interception he’s recorded the past three years.
Former Citadel head coach Mike Houston is the one running the show in Greenville these days. Houston, as you might remember, guided James Madison to back-to-back FCS national championship game appearances, including a title in 2016.
ECU’s third-year head coach has steadily improved the Pirates since he was hired in 2018. Houston’s 2020 squad won its final two games of the COVID-affected campaign to earn three conference wins for the first time since 2015.
South Carolina’s quarterback situation remains unsettled now just a few hours from kickoff. Beamer has insinuated Luke Doty might be healthy enough to play this weekend, but he sounded less sure during his radio show Thursday night.
If Doty can’t go — and it’s still plausible he can — things will again fall on Noland. For the second-straight week, Noland will have family in the stands when the Gamecocks take the field. It remains to be seen if he’ll be the first quarterback in the game, though.
On a more serious note, Saturday is also the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. Expect there to be plenty American flags around Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.
No one is expecting all that much in Beamer’s first season in Columbia. Reaching the four- or five-win threshold would be a solid year. Getting to six wins and a bowl game would be a step ahead of schedule for all intents and purposes.
South Carolina — and yours truly — circled this weekend’s matchup with ECU as a win heading into the year. I still think the Gamecocks eke this one out, but it’ll be a stiffer test than it might appear on paper.
Raise the Jolly Roger. We’re only a couple hours away from battle in Greenville.
— Prediction: South Carolina 38, ECU 28 —
This story was originally published September 11, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
