Thanksgiving—and the family functions to go along with them—isn’t until next week, but Shane Beamer and the Gamecocks will see plenty of familiar faces at Williams-Brice this weekend.
Not only will Mike Bobo and Will Friend—Beamer’s offensive coordinator and line coach for what felt like fifteen minutes— will be on the offensive headsets but Tank Bigsby, a prized Gamecock target will be running the ball with TJ Finley handing it off to him.
It’s a horde of familiar faces, and familiar styles of play, on this Auburn team in a game pivotal as the Gamecocks vie for bowl eligibility.
“Pound the ball football. We know Mike Bobo’s going to try and run the ball 20-30 times. He’s just going to try and play hard-nosed football,” JJ Enagbare said. “That’s Mike Bobo. He’s going to try and run the football. Our goal is to obviously put them in third and long and in pass situations and situations they don’t want to be in.”
The Gamecocks know Bobo well, serving as South Carolina’s offensive coordinator and interim head coach last season, and understand the run-the-ball mentality permeating his offensive thinking.
He has a good back to do it in Bigsby, who the Gamecocks fought hard for in recruiting before he ultimately chose Auburn.
Bigsby has 776 yards rushing and averaging five yards per pop this year but been hit or miss against Power 5 teams, especially on the road.
He’s averaging 4.1 yards per carry in SEC play with 15 rushes of at least 10 yards and 19 missed tackles forced. In three league road games—LSU, Arkansas and Texas A&M—he’s averaging 3.9 yards per carry with just six rushes of at least 10 yards and six missed tackles forced.
The Gamecocks have struggled against good rushing teams, most recently allowing 5.6 yards per carry to Missouri with Tyler Badie going off for 209 yards and a score.
Stopping the run Saturday will be imperative as the Gamecocks try and stifle Auburn for the second-straight year in a run game with shades of Bobo and Bryan Harsin’s scheme at Boise State.
“It’s a total commitment to team defense. You have to play four quarters and we have to be better in situational football and continue to grind, understand what we’re doing, where we’re aligning, what we’re signing and where our eyes are,” defensive coordinator Clayton White said. “Then don’t panic. Let’s play the next down and keep moving.”
They’ll also face TJ Finley, making his first start of the season, who has a history with the Gamecocks.
Finley was the starter last season for LSU when South Carolina went to Baton Rouge and put up prolific numbers in what was his first career start: 17-for-21, 265 yards, two scores and a pick.
Beamer likened him to JaMarcus Russell and raved about the sophomore’s arm talent.
“TJ Finley is a big statuesque quarterback with a strong arm and has some experience at LSU and some experience earlier this year,” White said. “He’s a guy they’re pretty sure they can count on, but as far as his physical tools are probably unmatched when you’re comparing him to other people in the country.”
This season Finley has a PFF grade of 80.9 and exceled in limited snaps in play action and at throwing the deep ball, presenting a unique challenge for a pass defense that’s been solid this year.
“I know he’s a bigger quarterback, like 6-foot-7, 240-something. He’s tall in the pocket; stands strong in the pocket but can move around in the picket and get out of the pocket,” Enagbare said. “From what I’ve seen and playing against him last year he likes to stay in the pocket a little bit more and try to make the throw."
It’s a tough matchup for the Gamecocks trying to get their sixth win of the season and win just their second game ever against Auburn since joining the SEC with the first coming last season in a 30-22 win.
“It’s about us, honestly,” Enagbare said. “We only control what we can control and whatever we see on Saturday, that’s what we’ll face and we’ll try to dominate.”
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