Just one month ago I wrote an article titled The evolution of South Carolina's rushing attack here on Gamecock Central where I analyzed the way the Gamecocks' running game had evolved from an RPO-heavy scheme to a pin-and-pull scheme on the way to rushing for 247 yards against Kentucky, 142 yards against and 217 yards against Florida in back-to-back-to-back weeks.
It was an adjustment that revitalized the Carolina rushing attack, gave the Gamecocks' offense an identity, and for at least a period of the season, made Carolina one of the best running teams in the SEC.
Fast forward to now and teams have adjusted to the Gamecocks' go-to run scheme as South Carolina has rushed for just 78 (Tennessee), 21 (App State) and 45 (Texas A&M) yards, respectively, in three of its last four games (with a 205 rushing mark against Vandy thrown in there three weeks ago).
That has begged the obvious, and valid question of: how? More specifically, how could the Gamecocks rush the football so well against SEC defenses like Georgia's and Florida's, yet show no signs of life against Appalachian State?
To answer that question, first let's go back to what we wrote last time, about what exactly the pin-and-pull concept is and what makes it successful, or rather what needs to happen to make it successful.
