Jernigan is one of Troy's most electric players. He leads the team in receiving yards and will also line up at QB in the Trojans' wildcat package. Think Randall Cobb. This is a guy we'll have to keep our eyes on.
2. Can the Gamecocks Pressure the QB?
It's hard to believe now that many of us, including yours truly, were lamenting our lack of a pass rush a few games into the season. The Gamecocks now rank third in the nation in sacks, which exceeds even the impressive numbers we posted a year ago when Eric Norwood was still roaming opposing backfields. It will be interesting to see how much pressure we can get on Troy. I would expect Ellis Johnson to dial up a pretty vanilla game plan in this one, but considering how well our tackles and ends have played lately, we may only need a four-man rush against Troy's line to ring up some gaudy tackles-for-loss numbers.
1. Another Test for the Gamecocks Pass Defense
Troy throws the ball approximately 39 times per game and the Trojans rank 13th in the nation in total passing yardage. They have a solid QB and a receiving corps that's AQ-worthy. If the Trojans offensive line can protect the QB, their passing game will provide a good measure of whether or not our pass defense turned a corner last week. My guess is that we're going to see Troy move the ball quite well through the air but that that might not equal a lot of points for the Trojans--think the results of our game against Southern Miss. It's worth noting that QB Corey Robinson has thrown quite a few INTs this year to go along with all the yards. It would be nice to see the Gamecocks haul in a few takeaways; we continue to leave a lot of turnovers on the field.