Last weekend, the Gamecocks got a sneak peak at their season-opening opponent.

Eastern Illinois, which will come to Williams-Brice Saturday night, actually played last weekend in a 26-21 loss to Indiana State in a game that, while a loss, South Carolina’s coaching staff saw progress and potential problems.

“They lost Saturday night, but they have an impressive group, though," head coach Shane Beamer said. "They did not play their best certainly in the first three quarters. They have an impressive group of transfers who came in with some significant playmakers for them,”

“They had the ball at the end of the game with a chance to win it. That’s a game they look at and feel they had every opportunity to win it. They got better as the game went on. That was obvious.”

The Panthers were in the game the entire time, never trailing by more than 10 points and for large chunks of the game trailed by one score.

Eastern Illinois also turned the ball over three times, including once in the red zone, and was sacked five times in a game decided by one score.

In watching the film, Beamer said quarterback Otto Kuhns presents a lot of challenges from a mobility standpoint and the defense has to be ready for that.

Kuhns completed 14 of his 29 passes for 253 yards but rushed six times for 60 yards in what defensive coordinator Clayton White called a “big time improvement” after EIU’s 2020 spring season ending at 1-5.

“We have to do a great job of containing their quarterback. I think he does a fantastic job of getting outside the pocket and making plays,” White said. “They brought one running back (Markenzy Pierre) in from Syracuse and he’s a horse so we have to do a great job containing him and doing a great job of rallying to the football and playing team defense.”

Defensively Eastern Illinois held Indiana State to 3.8 yards per pass attempt and just 4.8 yards rushing, giving up 4.4 yards per play.

Offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield was impressed with Eastern Illinois defensively and their ability to limit a big play.

“You can tell just from last season, their six-game schedule, to this season they’ve gotten their size. Their offseason must have been good. Their linebackers have gotten a little bit quicker and playing with great instinct,” he said.

“Their scheme is a very good scheme, a very sound scheme. They’re going to make you earn everything and are disciplined at doing it. They’ll let you throw five or six hitches down the field but as offensive coordinators that’s not flashy enough. They’re banking on us to go off schedule and not do that and beat ourselves. We have to be patient, take what they give us and they’ll be a formidable opponent for sure.”

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