Dowdle, Feaster putting pressure on themselves to spark offense

When Tavien Feaster jogs out of the tunnel Saturday, it’ll be his fourth and final game in the Palmetto Series and give him a chance to see a few friends on the other side.

Feaster started his career at Clemson and Saturday will be the first time he’s seen his former teammates since transferring to South Carolina over the summer.

They’ll exchange pleasantries, but when the ball is kicked off, those go out the window.

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“It’s going to be what it is,” Feaster said. “We’re going to come out prepared. I know we’re friends or whatever but when we step out on the field, it’s business. It’s go time.”

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And it’s smart for Feaster to throw the friendships out the window given the important job he and Rico Dowdle have in trying to pull the upset against the No. 3 Tigers.

The two will be relied upon heavily to get the team’s running game going, something that’s been absent the last two weekends.

Their last two games, both losses, they’ve picked up a total of 66 yards on the ground, averaging just 1.5 yards per carry.

In wins this season, the offense is averaging over six yards per carry compared to just 2.9 in games they’ve lost. Going into this week, both Feaster and Dowdle are putting the onus on them to get the offense back on track.

“The offense all season has been flowing through the run game and the past couple weeks it hasn’t been working well,” Dowdle said. “We haven’t been running the ball well. I put a lot of pressure on myself. When our run game is doing well, our offense works out. It opens up everything else.”

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It’ll be easier said than done with Clemson currently ranked 19th in the country allowing just 109.7 yards on the ground per game.

“They’re going to be flying around. Obviously just go out there and attack full speed. It’s going to be a physical game,” Feaster said. “We have to go out there and handle business, because we’re going to handle business.”

The Gamecocks (4-7, 3-5 SEC) have been good running the ball at times this season, especially early in the year, but faltered lately with Dowdle and Feaster both limited recently with nagging injuries.

Both are back healthy this week and should be ready to go to try and fix some of the issues that have plagued the Gamecocks against Clemson in recent years.

In three games under will Muschamp, the Gamecocks are averaging 94 yards per game on the ground and 3.6 yards per carry.

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“We had a hard time running the ball. I think we ended up with 90 or something yards rushing,” Muschamp said. “I think we hit a late run. And we couldn't stop the run. And I think that, as much as anything, is where we've made some improvements this year with our football team.”

The Gamecocks kick off against the Tigers at noon on ESPN.

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