The Halftime Report: South Carolina vs Furman

South Carolina's Football team is heading to the locker room up on the Furman Paladins by a score of 27-14. What took place in the first 30 minutes?

Both Shane Beamer and Pete Lembo stated this week that the Furman Paladins weren't going to come into Williams-Brice Stadium all big-eyed at the crowd. So far, the in-state FCS program is backing up that notion, but South Carolina has found some offensive success as they lead Furman 27-14 heading into the locker room.

Spencer Rattler and the Gamecocks have kept the game plan simple early against the Paladins, using a quick passing game and a power run attack to keep their quarterback out of harm's way and essentially challenge Furman's defenders to win their win their one-on-ones. At times, the Gamecocks have made this game plan work to perfection, and combined with some selective up-tempo, have had a couple of impressive drives that ended in scores. However, inconsistency somewhat continues to plague this side of the ball, as the Gamecocks have also had multiple three-and-outs in their own territory.

Defensively, South Carolina is facing a similar strategy that North Carolina employed last week, which involved a lot power-run plays and quick passes to the perimeter, basically trying to keep the Gamecocks athletic pass rushers at bay. Carolina, however, continues to struggle at winning the early downs and avoiding 3rd and manageable situations. The defensive line has got to do a better job at causing disruption in rush defense, or else Furman will be able to stick around in this game on the offensive side of the ball. It's a battle of similar styles so far in Columbia, so I wouldn't go anywhere when the second half gets under.

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