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A spirit that is not afraid

Let's hope for a Palmetto sweep

LINDEN
LINDEN

After a thrilling overtime victory, the Tigers have to prepare for their toughest test yet.

The ol' ball coach is coming to town with what is arguably his best South Carolina team so far.

The 13th ranked Gamecocks are coming off a 38-19 win against the Furman Paladins and are 3-0 for the first time since October 2007.

South Carolina is a run-oriented team, and Spurrier knows he needs to mix in the pass offense Saturday to have a chance at beating Auburn.

The Gamecock's star runningback Marcus Lattimore has 70 carries for 333 yards and five touchdowns, but will most likely have a tough time finding yardage.

Lattimore is the type of back that loves to run up the middle.

Luckily for Auburn, stopping the inside run has been their strength this season.

Although the Tigers have been strong at containing the inside run, Chizik emphasized the lack of physicality and control on the line of scrimmage.

"We need to improve in a lot of ways on the line of scrimmage and that starts with our offensive and defensive lines," Chizik said. "I'm not saying there weren't physical hits and physical play in the (Clemson) game because there was. I think both teams played with a lot of pride and a lot of passion, but we have to win the line of scrimmage more than we're doing right now."

To stop the Gamecocks, Auburn must have a tight defense, put pressure on the quarterback and continue to contain the run.

Last week Auburn did a better job of bringing the blitz, but we still seemed to have problems covering the screen pass.

Once quarterbacks give the ball to their runningbacks, there are too many open spaces and our defensive backs need to make sure they are in position to make a play.

The Tigers lead the Southeastern Conference in rushing offense, averaging 259.3 yards per game, but will need more yards from both Dyer and McCalebb against the league's toughest run defense.

The Gamecocks rush defense gave up only 51 rushing yards to Furman last Saturday and have given up only 59.7 yards per game on average this year.

Auburn will once again be broadcast on ESPN 3D, making it just the fifth college football game ever to be broadcast in 3D.

South Carolina players will surely have former teammate Kenny McKinley on the back of their mind as well.

McKinley played in eight games for the Denver Broncos before being placed on injury reserve.

According to the Denver Post, the former Gamecock wide receiver was depressed after knee surgery and committed suicide, believing if he could not play football, he had nothing left to live for.

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It is a sad situation, and my heart goes out to all those affected.


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