South Carolina vs Old Dominion: Keys & Prediction

In the new era of college football, week one matchups are chalk full of unknowns. New players, new schemes, new conferences. It’s unfamiliar but exciting.

For South Carolina, this week one matchup offers the opportunity to figure out its depth chart and scheme ahead of tougher opponents in week two and beyond. 

For Old Dominion, they’re entering Columbia with the goal to prove they’re a program who can compete with the big boys rather than just serving as a feeder program for them (looking at the talented transfer they lost to Power 4 schools)

Offensively, the three keys for the Gamecocks are:

• Showcase Sellers: get him going early with tempo runs and play-action passes. Rack up the stats and get his name on the national radar. This is one of the few games they can do so and will be important for building the program.
• Build Confidence at OL: Old Dominion has one of the weakest defensive lines SC will see all season. Run-blocking and pass-protection need to be at an A-grade or better. Getting to the second-level and blocking standout LB Jason Henderson will be a key for the SC guards.
• Identify Reliable Receivers: Which receivers make the most of their snaps? The coaches want to see who makes the fewest mistakes and can show they’re in sync with Sellers. My money is on Jared Brown being a quick favorite and I’m excited to see Nyck Harbor used creatively.

The offense will look to come out balanced overall and not show too much on tape for Kentucky. It will be important to work out some kinks and gray areas, so don’t be surprised if we see the starters in longer than expected in this one. 

Defensively, there are three simple keys:

• Own the Line of Scrimmage: whether in the three or four-man front, the Gamecocks have to dominate here. This means creating an impenetrable wall against the run and getting into the Monarchs backfield without the need of blitzing. 
• No Explosives: The Monarchs may stack their receivers and attack the Gamecocks on the perimeter. It will be important for the secondary to not get sucked in short and give up explosive plays. 
• Freshmen, Stand Up: This game provides an opportunity for Gamecock freshmen to get real-game action for the first time. The coaches need these as they are looking for quality depth and rotation heading into SEC play. Dylan Stewart, Fred Johnson, Jalewis Solomon, David Bucey. Don’t be surprised if one or more of these guys shows up and steals future playing time from upperclassmen.

The defense’s overall goal here will be for the starting unit to not allow a touchdown. It’s pretty simple. The coaches will want to test out the switch between four and three-man fronts while dominating the line of scrimmage. The backend players will control their own fate through playing sound and disciplined football. 

Score Prediction: South Carolina 48, Old Dominion 13

This will prove to be a warm-up game for the Gamecocks where they’re able to work out any final kinks that lingered from preseason camp. Offensively, the Gamecocks have too much speed for the Monarchs and I do expect Coach Beamer to want to make a statement in game one. On that note, look for LaNorris Sellers to have a massive game statistically. 

On the other side of the ball, the Gamecocks have too much strength up front for the Monarchs to get anything going. I do anticipate a few mistakes given the slew of newcomer players which is natural but I also expect the starting unit to keep the Monarchs out of the red zone for the majority of the game.

Read About Gamecocks & the Author, Matt O'Brien HERE