Thumbs up, thumbs down: South Carolina vs. Auburn
Here’s a look at what went right and wrong in South Carolina’s 21-17 win against visiting Auburn on Saturday night at Williams-Brice Stadium. With the win, the Gamecocks (6-5, 3-5 SEC) earned bowl eligibility.
South Carolina thumbs up
The running game: With quarterback Jason Brown throwing an early first-quarter interception in the end zone, the Gamecocks quickly turned to their ground game to fuel the offense. Both veterans ZaQuandre White and Kevin Harris ran the ball with authority against the Tigers, picking up chunk gains and both averaging more than 5 yards per carry in the first half. White got the Gamecocks on the board first, catching a short pass from Brown and racing 28 yards down the left sideline into the end zone. And White helped set up the team’s second score with strong running inside the red-zone, setting up a short trick pass to 305-pound offensive lineman Trai Jones. White finished the night with 99 rushing yards on 16 attempts and 69 receiving yards on three catches, while Harris added 63 yards on 13 totes.
Trai Jones: Speaking of Jones, he deserves a nod for catching that 3-yard touchdown pass after lining up at fullback at the goal-line. Though Jones doesn’t see the field often, he’s made a positive impact in South Carolina’s running game by providing extra blocking support in the backfield.
The USC secondary: With Auburn quarterback Bo Nix out due to ankle surgery, the Tigers’ passing game was bound to take a hit. Backup quarterback T.J. Finley, a 6-foot-7, 246-pound physical player, had his way with the Gamecocks in his first career start in 2020, while he was playing for LSU. Now with Auburn, Finley had a tougher go of it against Clayton White’s defense with the Gamecocks taking away his down-the-field options for much of the night. Auburn mostly leaned on its running game as Finley completed 17 of 32 passes for 188 yards.
Jason Brown: The night began inauspiciously for the former third-string quarterback, who took an ill-advised deep shot down the middle of the field that was picked off in the end zone by Auburn safety Donovan Kaufman. But Brown cleaned up the mistakes from that point forward, playing clean football and making the most of his limited pass attempts. Though USC leaned on its running backs, Brown was efficient with his throws, connecting on nine of his first 11 passes for three touchdowns. He finished with 157 yards, completing 10 of his 15 attempts.
South Carolina thumbs down
Pass protection: Not to sound like a broken record, but pass protection from USC’s offensive line has been an issue for much of the season, and that was the case again Saturday, as Brown spent much of the game trying to escape from a collapsing pocket. Brown was scrambling from the very beginning of the game, sacked three times in the first half for a loss of 12 yards.
Third-down efficiency: Another area of weakness for the USC offense for much of the season, the Gamecocks had difficulty finishing drives and executing on third downs. USC failed to convert any of its first four third-down attempts and finished the game just one for eight from third down.
Rushing defense: Going up against tailback Tank Bigsby is not an easy task for any defense, and the Gamecocks struggled to contain him Saturday. Coming into the contest averaging 5 yards per carry with nine rushing touchdowns, Bigsby sliced through the USC defense en route to 164 rushing yards on 22 carries and a rushing touchdown. Auburn rushed for 191 yards overall.
This story was originally published November 20, 2021 at 10:15 PM.
