Storylines to watch: Florida

It's early in the 2020 season, but the Gamecocks find themselves in desperate need of a win in Week 2.

After a season-opening loss to Tennessee, South Carolina heads down to Florida trying to upset the No. 3 Gators and find a way to scratch out a win and get back to .500.

Before they do, though, it's important to look at a few storylines prior to the noon kick in the Swamp.

Can South Carolina get pressure with four?

To say Florida has a lot of playmakers offensively is a bit of an understatement, and it could be one of the deeper receiver and tight end pools South Carolina will see this season.

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Given some secondary struggles and a propensity in the opener to give up big plays, it's going to be imperative to get to quarterback Kyle Trask with just four rushers.

If the Gamecocks can, then they can drop seven in coverage and clog passing lanes, limiting Florida's efficiency offensively. If they can't, and subsequently have to start blitzing, it's going to open up a lot on the back end that could cause serious problems defensively.

How long will it take for the Gamecocks to get settled offensively?

After a stellar first drive against Tennessee, South Carolina's offense went into hibernation the rest of the half before coming out and clicking at the start of the third quarter. The Gamecocks scored 20 points in the second half of against an FBS opponent, the first time that's happened since Nov. 3, 2018 against Ole Miss (15 games).

That's good news for South Carolina, showing what its offense can do, but it's going to need to start much faster this week if it wants to pull the upset. The Gamecocks can't afford to stall for the majority of the first half and expect to win.

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Turnovers, turnovers, turnovers

When South Carolina won nine games three years ago it did it with a defense largely predicated on turning the ball over. In the last two seasons, when the Gamecocks went 11-14, the defense struggled to get the ball off opponents.

Saturday, they'll need to force some takeaways if they want to win. If they can't, and Trask and that offense are able to stay on the field and have productive drives, it could be a long day.

Will the offensive line handle Florida's aggression?

To say Florida defensive coordinator Todd Grantham likes to blitz would be disrespectful to Grantham, who blitzes like it's going out of style. The longtime SEC coordinator likes to send unique pressure often, and it'll be essential for South Carolina to handle it and keep Collin Hill upright.

The Gamecocks need to shore up their right side of the line and if they can't do that then there could be a lot of pressure on Hill Saturday.

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Will other receivers step up?

The Gamecocks pass game looked good in the second half but there is a worrying part about the offensive output. Three players—Shi Smith, Nick Muse and Xavier Legette—combined for 18 of the 25 completions and over 85 percent of Hill's 290 yards passing.

Knowing the Gators will try and take away Smith's production, it's going to be up to a few young players like Luke Doty, Dakereon Joyner, Eric Shaw and Ger-Cari Caldwell to step up and take some pressure off Smith and the rest of the offense.

If the Gamecocks can't, then the offense could become very one-dimensional in the Swamp.