USC-UMass Preview: Beginning of the Jake Bentley Era in Columbia?
What: Massachusetts (1-6) at South Carolina (2-4)
Where: Williams-Brice Stadium, Columbia, SC
When: Sat., Oct. 22, noon ET
TV/Radio: SEC Network (Tom Hart, Andre Ware, Cole Cubelic); Gamecock IMG Sports Network (Todd Ellis, Tommy Suggs, Langston Moore); Sirius 83/XM 190
Rarely have teams from the Northeast journeyed to Columbia to face the Gamecocks. Then again, lowly UMass has 1.5 million reasons for doing so. South Carolina is the third SEC team the Minutemen have faced in their first year as an independent. They opened the season at Florida and hosted Mississippi State a year ago. UMass battled both the Gators and Bulldogs until deep into the second half before falling. Is UMass the best 1-6 team in the country Perhaps. Certainly, Saturday’s game is a must-win for the Gamecocks in their bowl for bowl eligibility.
ALSO SEE: The Insider Report - New JUCO defensive back to watch for | Muschamp, Thompson watch five-star DE Xavier Thomas Thursday | Carolina Confidential - Is the Bentley noise real? | Scouting the Minutemen - What to expect from UMass
WHEN SOUTH CAROLINA HAS THE BALL
I’ll just go ahead and say it – Jake Bentley.
Has there ever been more buzz surrounding the possible debut of a true freshman quarterback who should still be a senior in high school? We don’t know for sure if Bentley will start, but all signs point in that direction.
When was the last time any college football team started two different true freshmen at quarterback in the same season? My guess is it has not happened often.
If he starts, Bentley will become the fifth true freshmen to start at quarterback for the Gamecocks since the school joined the SEC in 1992, joining Steve Taneyhill (1992), Mikal Goodman (1999), Lorenzo Nunez (2015) and McIlwain (2016) in that exclusive club, and the third in the last two seasons.
The last time anybody other than the Gamecocks coaches, players and support staff saw Bentley throw a football was in mid-August during preseason camp. More than two months have passed by since then, and presumably Bentley’s understanding of the offensive scheme has grown considerably.
Certainly, Bentley has reached the point where the coaches look to be confident enough to throw him out there against a FBS team, albeit one low on the national college football totem pole.
Quarterbacks can’t do it alone, though, and Bentley is no exception. The running game has been woeful all season long with two freshmen (RSFr. A.J. Turner and true Fr. Rico Dowdle) now handling the ball carrying duties (will we see David Williams again this season?) and the offensive line struggling to open holes. Result? The Gamecocks are averaging just 92.3 yards per game on the ground, 3.01 yards per attempt. Both figures are the lowest in the SEC.
The good news for the Gamecocks running game is UMass is allowing 206.1 yards per game on the ground, including 293 rushing yards to Mississippi State a month ago in Foxboro. So, the Gamecocks are presented with an opportunity to get healthy in the run game prior to an important 3-game stretch against SEC opponents Tennessee, Missouri and Florida over the next three weekends.
As offensive coordinate Kurt Roper mentioned Thursday night, the presence of wide receivers Deebo Samuel and Bryan Edwards in the lineup makes a big difference to the Gamecocks passing attack. Along with tight end/slot receiver Hayden Hurst, they are two of USC’s most talented pass catchers. Hurst (30 receptions for 388 yards) and Edwards (20 receptions) have combined for 50 of the 115 receptions (43.5 percent) at the halfway point.
When you consider the third and fourth leading receivers are tight end K.C. Crosby (15) and Turner, Edwards in the lone wide receiver with double digit catches through six games. Of course, Samuel’s troublesome hamstring has a lot to do with that.
Junior linebacker Steve Casali leads the UMass defense in tackles by a wide margin with 61. He also has three fumble recoveries and is tied for the team high in pass breakups with 5, so he is very active. Casali posted nine tackles, three pass breakups and a fumble return for 20 yards against Mississippi State on Sept. 24.
WHEN UMASS HAS THE BALL
Like the Gamecocks, UMass has relied on multiple quarterbacks this season.
Redshirt sophomore Andrew Ford, a Virginia Tech transfer, is expected to get the starting nod Saturday. He was 24-of-40 passing for 273 yards and four touchdowns against Mississippi State last month. A week ago, he completed his first 11 passes and went 29-of-40 for 268 yards and three touchdowns in the Minutemen’s 56-28 loss to Louisiana Tech.
The 6-foot-3, 205-pound Ford spent the 2014 season with Virginia Tech. He was a three-star prospect from Camp Hill, Pa. and ranked by Rivals.com as the No. 26 pro-style quarterback in the country for the 2014 recruiting cycle.
Ford transferred to Lackawanna Community College in 2015, throwing for 1,764 yards and 23 touchdowns with just six interceptions. So far this season, Ford has completed 63.6 percent of his passes (103-162) for 1,117 yards and 13 touchdowns with eight interceptions. He has started four of UMass’ seven games.
Ford has two main targets in the passing game. Tight end Adam Breneman was added to the John Mackey Award Midseason Watch List two weeks ago and currently has a team-high 35 catches for 390 yards entering Saturday’s game against the Gamecocks, whose leading receiver is also a tight end.
Ford and Breneman played together on the same team (Cedar Cliff High School). With Ford as the starter in the last three games, Breneman owns a team-high 20 receptions for 195 yards and a touchdown. Breneman is the all-time leading receiver in Cedar Cliff history and all-time leading tight end in Pennsylvania high school history in all receiving categories.
Ford was the 2013 Gatorade Player of the Year in Pennsylvania, the same award won by USC’s Brandon McIlwain two years later.
Sophomore WR Andy Isabella (33 receptions for team high 427 yards) reeled in a 53-yard catch-and-run pass down the Florida sideline at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in the season opener. He finished with three receptions for 95 yards at Florida, the most receiving yards on either team.
Running back Marquis Young reached 1,000 career yards in his 13th game as a Minuteman, making him one of the fastest to do so in recent team history. Young reeled off 125 yards on 18 carries against Mississippi State, his fourth career game with 100+ yards rushing. He added 163 yards at Old Dominion two weeks ago before managing 40 yards vs. Louisiana Tech last weekend before suffering an injury.
According to the UMass media, Young is listed as questionable for Saturday’s game. Head coach Mark Whipple described Young’s status Thursday as ‘50-50’ for the game. His absence would certainly leave a huge void in the Minutemen’s running game.
The No. 1 goal for the Gamecocks defense in the second half of the 2016 season is simple – stop the run a heckuva lot better than they did in the first six games. Opponents are averaging a SEC-worst 222.7 yards per game, and USC has yielded rushing yards far too easily.
However, the defense has improved over last year in several categories, including points per game (20.2 vs. 29.0 in 2015), passing yards allowed per game (173.0 vs. 220.3 in 2015), total yards allowed per game (395.7 vs. 428 in 2015) and average yards per play (5.3 vs. 6.3 in 2015). Nonetheless, the Gamecocks defense has a long way to go to be considered a respectable SEC unit.
SYNOPSIS: Let’s not fool ourselves. These are two mediocre football teams, at best. Offensively, neither team is averaging 20 points per game and both teams struggle to run the ball while allowing more than 200 yards on the ground. For both teams, the differential between offensive and defensive rushing yards is greater than 100 yards per game. On and on. The Gamecocks have won 23 of the last 25 games against non-conference games at Williams-Brice Stadium. UMass gave Florida and Mississippi State all sorts of problems, but they lack the firepower to win a four-quarter game on the road. However, barring a major shift in personality during the bye week, the Gamecocks lack the talent to blow out the Minutemen, especially with an unproven true freshman quarterback possibly making his first career appearance. USC will establish a season high in points scored, but the game will be closer than the oddsmakers in Vegas believe. Best news for UMass? They take home $1.5 million for making the trip to the Palmetto State.
PREDICTION: Gamecocks 24, UMass 13.
