Five final thoughts and a result prediction before the South Carolina vs. Akron game

Seven days after South Carolina's heartbreaking loss to LSU, the Gamecocks return to Williams-Brice Stadium for a non-league game before the off week.

On Saturday, the Akron Zips come to Columbia, a MAC team that will receive $1.5 million to play the Gamecocks.

Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on ESPNU. South Carolina will wear retro uniforms. It was already touted that the game would be sold out.

Those are some facts. Here are some thoughts.

1. It would be surprising if LaNorris Sellers played

What a week for tactics.

The SEC has enacted a new policy requiring mandatory “availability reports” before every conference game, but because South Carolina is playing against a non-conference opponent, it did not have to release injury information and therefore does not have to reveal Sellers' true status.

South Carolina's starting quarterback was injured in the first half against LSU. He tried to come back for one series, but the coaches clearly saw he was limited and he didn't play another snap.

According to our reporting, Sellers suffered a sprained ankle and did not practice on Tuesday and Wednesday. Which brings me to my next point. In addition to South Carolina coach Shane Beamer saying that Sellers has been doing better every day this week – which is true – he also said this:

“They have to be able to do something on Tuesday or Wednesday that doesn't involve any restrictions,” Beamer said of recovering players, “so that we can send them into the game on Saturday with a clear conscience.”

For me, this is practically confirmation that Sellers will not play on Saturday.

And what the hell is the point of sending him out there? South Carolina is playing a horrible Akron team and then has an off week. Why not give Sellers' ankle two weeks to heal before the game against Ole Miss on Oct. 5? I'm guessing USC will do just that.

2. Will we see an improved Robby Ashford?

If Sellers is out, Ashford will be the starter, having completed about 80% of the first-team training sessions this week, according to a team source.

That alone should give you more confidence in Ashford.

He was pushed into the LSU game last week and was only able to complete 2 of 4 passes while taking a number of sacks, but you have to think about Ashford's reps up front.

If Sellers is healthy, he'll probably get three-quarters of practice snaps with the starting offensive line. It would be extremely difficult to suddenly move from there to the middle while LSU's defensive linemen are trying to tear your head off.

“That's the way it is. He's not going to get every rep (in practice),” offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains said. “As a backup, he's not going to get every opportunity that LaNorris gets. There are certain plays that are immediately taken off the game plan.”

Will the offense look different this week now that Ashford has taken over most of the starting lineup? At least that's what we can hope for.

Maybe the offense is the same, but it's Ashford's confidence that makes the difference. As mentioned, Ashford only threw the ball four times against LSU — which doesn't mean Loggains only called four pass plays.

On a number of snaps against LSU, Ashford should have passed, but he ran with the ball because he was under pressure or for other reasons.

“I have confidence in him,” Beamer said on his radio show on Thursday night. “Robby has been here a long time. He's not a young guy anymore. … When he's on the field on Saturday, we'll start our offense.”

Loggains said: “Obviously there are similarities between him and LaNorris, but there are also differences between the two. So you play to (the quarterback's) strengths.”

3. Columbia, we have a penalty problem

Yes, South Carolina's penalties against LSU were a little exaggerated due to some questionable decisions. And no, we're not going to talk about that.

But you don't become one of the most penalized teams in America — South Carolina's 8.67 penalties per game are 116th in the country — just because the referees do it. Against the Tigers, the Gamecocks were assessed 13 penalties — a stat that becomes even more concerning when you consider that seven of them were self-inflicted.

Last Saturday, South Carolina was penalized twice for false starts and offsides (all in the fourth quarter) and three times for an ineligible player on the field. That's seven avoidable penalties that cost the Gamecocks the game in part.

“(The two offside penalties) were maddening,” Beamer said. “And one of them was before a two-minute timeout where they probably wouldn't have snapped the ball. Those are things we practiced in August.”

So what's the solution? How do coaches make sure their players don't commit stupid penalties anymore? Do they create consequences? Do they make them do push-ups for every penalty? Do they show the whole team every penalty and call out the guy who messed it up? Do they just hope it doesn't happen again?

“We talk about it. We try to educate about it,” Beamer said. “We have done various things here, even in practice.”

Beamer even mentioned that this offseason he looked up the 10 least penalized teams from last season and called five of those head coaches, including Jim Harbaugh (Michigan), PJ Fleck (Minnesota), Tom Herman (FAU) and Dave Clawson (Wake Forest). Perhaps Beamer will check back during the off week.

4. Props for the offensive script

It took until Week 3 for South Carolina to get the ball first—and that only happened because LSU forfeited—but the Gamecocks may have to rethink their strategy if they win a coin toss.

Last Saturday, the Gamecocks had the ball first and just raced down the field. Methodical, efficient, whatever word you want to use, that's how it was. Sellers led USC on a seven-play, 75-yard drive that lasted less than three minutes and ended in a touchdown.

It was great. It also means that Loggains deserves praise for coming up with such an offensive script – and it's fascinating to learn about the process of creating that script.

“You look at how you attack the defense. What's your plan for the quarterback? How do you calm some guys down? And there's so much to it,” Loggains said. “Do we want to hit LaNorris early so he can get rid of his jitters? Does he need to get a completion? Does Josh Simon need to touch the ball early in the process? How many runs does Rocket (Sanders) need in the first quarter?”

5. Kyle Kennard will destroy Akron

I have the feeling that Kennard has been just angry all week. Not sulking, but the kind of anger that is brought on by the thought of I have to rehabilitate myself.

Although the Gamecocks edge rusher recorded a sack and a half against LSU, Kennard was penalized four times — twice for offsides and two other penalties that negated pick-sixes. He's spent all week trying to overcome the penalties while also hearing from people about the penalties.

I expect him to put that behind him on Saturday against an Akron team that is allowing three sacks per game.

FORECAST: South Carolina 34, Akron 10