Folks, we’re finally here: Football is upon us. In a departure from recent scheduling trends, South Carolina is opening the season with FCS program Eastern Illinois, which is a soothing prospect given the recent turmoil at quarterback and general unknowns. This game should be a nice way to ease into the 2021 campaign for new coach Shane Beamer and company, so rather than analyzing keys to victory, here’s what I’ll be looking for from each phase of the game.
A balanced offense. Normally, when the starting quarterback is on the shelf with injury and a backup is pressed into service — to say nothing of a former grad assistant being pressed into service — the recipe is to lean on the run game, which is particularly appealing with South Carolina’s backfield and EIU’s weakness to the run.