re: South carolina is tough to figure out.

Then get ready for a 5-7 loss season. A loss to SC and LSU sinks from the middle of the SEC to the bottom 1/4 of the league. And the season is over.

It was 23-21 with 14 minutes left in the 3rd qtr. After that LSU scored 3 more TDs and shut down Nichols.

It makes no sense until you understand how bad KY is offensively with that QB. KY is in big trouble....have to play Ga and OM here starting this week.

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Don’t overreact to that win & SC is not that impressive

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If South Carolina is not that impressive this year then LSU must look like absolute dog shite.

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I’m thinking they will run a three down lineman front

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No chance. Their front 4 is their strength. They’re not taking any of those off the field.

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with an eight man back

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They may drop guys back occasionally to show different looks and try to confuse Nuss and hopefully (for them) bait him into a pick. But they’re gonna try to get home with their front 4 most of the game.

From the small sample size we can deduce they are not very good offensively. Their QB has some talent and his ceiling may be high but he has struggled throwing the ball....which we can only hope continues.

Defensively they disrupted Kentucky very much. Not sure if it was as much them as maybe KY has some issues as ODU moved the ball on them much better than KY and as I said in an earlier post, I think Nichols could beat ODU.

They supposedly have good edge rushers. We have good tackles. We'll see.

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Sellers as a thrower is straight up bad, I have a hard time seeing him threatening our secondary, even though it ain’t great yet. As a runner, HP is perfect for spying him.

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I agree. I think Sellers has 20 completions through 2 games and like 25 rushes (not sure if that includes sacks). And they’ll have some packages for Ashford to come in and run the ball from the QB position. And they don’t have very dynamic plant makers at the WR position. So if Perkins is playing more Star/spy this week, I don’t necessarily think he’ll be used that way the rest of the entire season. This may just be the game plan for this particular opponent because of their limitations in the passing game and their leaning on their running game, especially their QBs.

I think it’s one reason why BK said they have to keep Whit Weeks on the field too. Said we cant afford for him to be a platoon player. I do think he means that for the rest of the season, but I think we really need him out there against SC. Especially considering we’ll be trying some new rotations at DT, and we’ll need Whit’s ability to come and play aggressively down hill and play the run up the middle. SC’s OL isn’t great, so hopefully our DL can keep them from getting to the 2nd level and Whit’s instincts can help him find the ball carrier and prevent him from getting to the 2nd level too.

Would love for him to have some TFLs, but if him and Penn can fill gaps and make tackles for just 2 or 3 yard gains (or less) and keep them in 2nd or 3rd and long, that will play right into our hands. We’ll be able to alternate between dropping back and bringing some blitzes, but we should be able to get off the field by getting home for sacks, getting pressure and making him rush to make throws/throw it away, or just playing good coverage and not giving him anybody open to go to and try to make him try to fit it in tight windows—which I don’t think he’s capable of—or take off running.

Which is where Perkins playing some sort of spy role will help. If it’s 3rd and 7 Sellers rolls out 7 yards behind the LOS, Perk should be able to kind float with him and chase him down if he decides to take off and run it. With Zy back, Woodland coming along, Stamps playing really well and
them not having the WRs to really just beat our safeties over the top without coverage busts, I think the SC offense is perfect for us to both cover our weaknesses and take advantage of our strengths. They’re just not very good. I think 2 of their TDs against Kentucky came after UK turned the ball over inside their own 10, giving SC 1st and goal.

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Their best asset is their pass rush and they’re about to go against 2 1st rounders. If they get no pressure, and I don’t think they’ll get much, Nuss is going to feast.

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Their pass rush is legit. I think they lead the SEC (if not the country) with 10 sacks (not sure how many more pressures). Yeah, we have 2 1st rounders, but they’re gonna get some pressure. USCw did even if they never got home for a sack. And I know it’s just 2 games, but I think they’ve also forced 6 fumbles (not sure how may they’ve recovered) and already have 4 picks. That’s their identity. They’re gonna try to get pressure, have Nuss backing up and throwing off his back foot, and hopefully (for them), try forcing him into making some mistakes. Especially early with their crowd being a huge factor. This will be Nuss’s 1st true road game, so it will be interesting to see how he handles it.

The beginning of the game will be huge for him. If he throws an early pick (which he may, and that’d be ok), can he bounce back and out it behind him instead of letting it snowball. I think he’s got the right mental makeup to not allow that, though.

I also don’t think their DBs match up well with our WRs at all. So if Nuss gets the ball out quick, we should be able to move the ball well (especially between the 20s) passing. Sloan will have some quick hitters to Anderson and Thomas (who I think is an absolute stud and can be a much bigger factor in the offense moving forward) and some quick 7-8 yard outs to Lacy and Taylor that should keep us ahead of the chains and limit their pass rush, opening up Lacy and Daniels for explosives further down the field.

If we can prevent pre-snap penalties (looking at you, Will) aided by the crowd noise and early down sacks/TFLs, again, I think we’ll be able to move the ball between the 20s pretty easily mainly passing the ball. I think field position will be big. We’re obviously much more vulnerable if we’re pinned back inside our own 20. Once we have it across the 30 (whether from special teams or getting a 1st down or 2), I think we’ll get in a nice rhythm and be able to move the ball down the field relatively easily.

But whether if it’s just with their front 4 or they have to bring an extra guy blitzing, they are gonna get pressure at least occasionally. Nuss just needs to take the sack or throw it away (which he’s done an extremely good job of so far) and live to fight another down. If he tries to force something by trusting his arm strength like throwing a 4-yard out to the sideline 30 yards away moving backwards, SC is more than capable of taking advantage of those and breaking on them, stepping in front of our WR to pick it and take it to the house. Nuss just needs to be patient and the big plays will eventually be there. Can’t give their bad offense breaks by turning it over and giving it to them on our side of the field.

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Only thing that bothers me is the weather, especially since I will be there.

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Same, as will I

Cheers brother

Vegas sure hasn't overreacted...yes the point spread came down a bit initially, but that is still a heavy road favorite in the SEC.