COLUMBIA, S.C. – All eyes will be on South Carolina's quarterback situation when the Gamecocks face in-state foe Charleston Southern for the first time on Saturday. True freshman Ryan Hilinski will start in place of injured senior Jake Bentley, and dynamic redshirt freshman Dakereon Joyner also is expected to play for the Gamecocks.
TV: Noon ET, SEC Network. LINE: None.
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Bentley is expected to be out six to eight weeks with a sprained foot he apparently suffered on the final play of a 24-20 loss to North Carolina. Bentley struggled in the opener and threw two late interceptions to aid a Tar Heels' comeback, but he has 33 career starts under center while Hilinski has never thrown a collegiate pass, while Joyner and fourth-stringer Jay Urich have a combined three pass attempts. "Ryan is very intelligent, and he's adapted himself well and we've got to make sure we play well around him," Gamecocks coach Will Muschamp told reporters. "That's the most important thing. We challenged our defense and the rest of the players offensively. We need to play well around the guy." The schedule goes from tough to tougher for the Buccaneers, who opened with a 46-13 loss to fellow FCS program Furman last week, and to make things more difficult, the school's campus was evacuated Monday in anticipation of Hurricane Dorian.
ABOUT CHARLESTON SOUTHERN (0-1)
The Bucs showed signs of life on offense in coach Autry Denson's debut, gaining 377 total yards. Jack Chambers went 18-of-25 for 192 yards and Charleston Southern rushed for 185 yards on 39 attempts against a strong Furman defense. The bigger concerns for the Bucs are on the other side of the ball, where they were gashed for 369 yards, including a pair of 66-yard touchdown runs in the fourth quarter.
ABOUT SOUTH CAROLINA (0-1)
Hilinski won the backup job from Joyner and was a highly-touted recruit with a strong arm. He will need to be able to complete some passes to keep the Bucs from loading up the line of scrimmage to stop running backs Tavien Feaster and Rico Dowdle. South Carolina's defense didn't allow a touchdown until the fourth quarter against North Carolina, but the Gamecocks surrendered 483 total yards to an inexperienced Tar Heels' offense, including scoring drives of 98 and 95 yards in the final quarter.
EXTRA POINTS
1. South Carolina WR Bryan Edwards is tied for fourth in school history with 164 career receptions and needs five catches to tie Sterling Sharpe (1983-87) for third place.
2. South Carolina is 45-3 against non-Power 5 opponents since 2000.
3. Charleston Southern is 0-20 all-time against FBS opponents and has been outscored 345-65 in seven games against SEC teams.
PREDICTION: South Carolina 30, Charleston Southern 7