Listening to the beat writers discuss the game with the South Carolina guys (here and also here) it's easy to be convinced that the Gamecocks will sell out to stop the run. In other words, they are going to put eight in the box, have their defensive backs on an island and just force Todd Gurley to beat them.
Ok. I get that. But does that dictate that Bobo unleash Mason to try and pick apart the beleaguered Gamecock secondary? Texas A&M picked the Gamecocks to death. But they also ran the ball over 30 times and averaged over 5.0ypc. ECU had even less balance but even more success running the ball than the Aggies did at 6.3ypc.
One more thing to throw at you this morning. Four of the top five leaders in tackles for the Gamecocks are defensive backs. Sure, most of that is because of how much their first two opponents (successfully) threw the ball. But their starting linebackers have a total of 29 tackles between them. Comparatively speaking, Georgia's have 26 total...in one game! In those podcast interviews, both David Cloninger and Josh Kendall mentioned that the number one concern for the South Carolina defense was tackling, even above shaky play in the secondary.
If I'm Bobo I'm certainly tempted to throw early and often. Even with question marks with the depth/experience at receiver, it makes sense to do what has worked for the Aggies and the Pirates. A lot of those 76 completions against the South Carolina secondary so far this season have been on intermediate routes and check downs. That's right in Mason's wheel house.
But you're eventually either going to win or lose this game on the ground. So give Gurley the ball and let the offense climb on his back. I'm not sure they can stop him. More importantly, they're not sure they can either.
