Five key South Carolina football players against Clemson

The Gamecocks take on Clemson at noon Saturday, trying to pull off a monumental upset over the No. 3 team in the country. They're not being given much of a shot with the spread opening and the Gamecocks a 26-point underdog and ESPN's FPI giving them a 7.6 percent chance to win.

But, if South Carolina does want to put a major dent in Clemson's College Football Playoff chances, these five players or position groups will need to step up big.

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Rico Dowdle

It seems pretty obvious, but getting a run game going against the Tigers will be imperative for the Gamecocks if they want to pull off the upset, and Dowdle is the guy they'll likely lean on to do it.

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The Gamecocks are averaging over six yards per carry in their four wins compared to 2.9 in losses. Dowdle will be key in attempting to establish a run game after being almost non-existent the last two games.

After missing almost three full games (he left one snap into the Florida game), Dowdle's rushed for 21 yards in his last two games while averaging a yard per carry. He's also caught nine passes for 77 yards, 67 of which came against App State.

It's easier said than done against a Clemson defense allowing just 109.7 yards on the ground, but Dowdle will be a big piece in trying to get the team's offense moving.

The entire offensive line

This is certainly a cop out picking five guys up front, but it's a group that's struggled the last few weeks and could be facing personnel changes entering the Clemson game.

It goes back to the run game and trying to get push there, but they've given up 11 quarterback hurries over the last two games as well and allowed four sacks as well.

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Clemson's defensive front is really good and averaging three sacks per game, which means the offensive line needs to hold up to try and slow that unit down.

Javon Kinlaw

Kinlaw's been on a war path all season and seems to show up the most in big games, which Saturday is. He dominated against Georgia and played really well against Alabama and Florida as well.

Clemson has one of the more potent offenses the back half of the season and it'll be important for Kinlaw to get into the backfield to blow up run plays or disrupt timing in the pass game if the Gamecocks want to pull off the upset.

Shi Smith

It looks likely Bryan Edwards won't play against the Tigers after a MCL sprain and knee scope, which means a lot of the explosive play burden will fall on Smith. Smith is coming off a hamstring injury and caught two passes for 41 yards against Texas A&M and will need to do more if the Gamecocks don't have Edwards available.

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Ernest Jones

It'd be easy to say Jaycee Horn or Israel Mukuamu here since they're tasked with guarding Clemson's bevy of receivers, but Jones is responsible for a lot more Saturday.

He'll be tasked with getting guys lined up, helping step up to stop Clemson's eighth-ranked rushing offense while also dropping back to cover the middle of the field against crossing routes or running backs out of the backfield.

If he can do that and get the defense in the right spot with players making plays, the defense could play well.

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