COLUMBIA — The numbers say it, and as is always pointed out, do not lie.
South Carolina rushed 48 times for 178 yards and three touchdowns during a 35-13 win over Kentucky on Sept. 27, easily its best output of the season, and while it can always be better, look at the average. Toting the rock for 3.7 yards per carry, you do that three times in a row, that’s a first down.
So the first four weeks were just a glitch that went on too long, right? Going to LSU in two weeks, the Gamecocks will be dangerous when they hand off, right? Everything’s gonna be all right, right?
Eh …
Depends on how you look at it.
“That’s a hell of a lot better than minus-12, or whatever we were last week (it was minus-9 against Missouri). So, that’s a positive,” USC coach Shane Beamer said. “We ran it 48 times — which, I love that. I love the fact that we were out there on that last drive, a couple of those plays we wouldn’t even have a receiver on the field. We had four tight ends out there just playing old-school, smash-mouth football.”
That’s the thing. That last drive was 68 yards on 16 plays, chewing all but 23 seconds off a clock that started at 9:51. Nothing against USC, but Kentucky was tired; the game was over, even USC knew that while it was working, it would never run that formation that much in a nip-and-tuck game.
Running backs had 96 yards on 34 carries (2.8). LaNorris Sellers had 81 on 14 (17 yards were removed due to sacks).
The good? Sellers had more designed runs that worked, more rollouts that became plays, seemed the confident, sure magician we’ve all come to know. That is a huge positive.
The bad? Far too many runs into a line that has been proven cannot block, for 1 or 2 yards at a time. Many on first or second down. Those were the first two plays, and the fed-up Williams-Brice crowd let USC know it with a chorus of boos.
“Scheme-wise, it’s something (Mike Shula and I) can talk about,” Sellers said. “We knew they were soft in coverage, so we knew we could pop a run in there, but they knew it was coming. It’s something we can fix and work on.”
Kentucky is also not nearly the best defensive front USC is going to face, and it only yielded when the Gamecocks went up 35-13. That’s a definite omen that stretches over the rest of the season, but perhaps a bye week reveals another tinkering that is sure to work.
The Gamecocks won and everybody’s happy, so it should be easy to install anything new.
But what if they’ve already done that and a pretty solid effort against a not-good team is the limit?
Spitting teeth
Third straight week the opponent has marched down the field and scored on its opening drive. “They take the ball, and they run it right down our throats on the first drive and out-physical us on that drive,” Beamer said. “That was disappointing to see.”
It turned out fine. Once the turnover parade began, USC was stacking easy points and the Wildcats deflated. Then the Gamecocks began to control the game, little by little, bashing the culture right out of quarterback Cutter Boley.
In the grand scheme, it’s nothing to panic about. Outside of last year, Clayton White’s defenses have always been a second-half team. They figure things out and adjust as the game goes on.
It’s just with the offense still a question, nobody wants to be playing from behind so much.
And now the defense is going to be asked to shut down a very angry LSU team, torqued from losing its first game this week, at night in Baton Rouge (no, a night kick hasn’t been officially announced, but you really think LSU won’t get a home kickoff that starts at night? That’s as much an SEC rule as no matter the performance, all Mannings are gods).
BeamerBumbles
No disrespect to the men the product is named after, but USC’s special teams has been trending down.
Max Kelley booted the opening kickoff out of bounds. After he landed his second one at the 15-yard line (saved by Maurice Brown nailing the returner so hard the guy’s pet turtle withdrew), William Joyce and Mason Love each took turns.
Love shanked his first punt so badly it never touched the grass on landing. The 16-yard kick went well out-of-bounds.
(Weirdly, special teams coordinator Joe DeCamillis looked at me last week in his press conference and said, “Nothing from you today?” I didn’t have anything to ask, so I shook my head. Buddy, there’s gonna be some questions next week).
Love nearly redeemed himself with a nifty fake that became a pass to Brown, but the play was short of the sticks. That could have been trouble if Kentucky turned it into a touchdown (it became a field goal). Jaquel Holman had a nice 41-yard return that got taken back to the 25 because Nyck Harbor gave the “T” fair-catch signal (i.e., the Shane Beamer Rule), even though he didn’t have the ball.
“I would say the one thing that was disappointing tonight was our special teams. I talked to the team yesterday at our walkthrough about, ‘Look, I know how much you want this game. Let’s not get out of here and, all of a sudden, start trying to do too much and lose our minds,’” Beamer said. “And we did on special teams.”
Turns out there is a problem when replacing all of your main guys. It’s just everyone kind of forgot about it when Vicari Swain housed three punt returns in two games.
The Fighter
Connor Shaw stepped out of that Cockaboose to do the “Game-Cocks” cheer and looked like he was just one shirt change away from playing. Hard to believe that less than two weeks ago, he was fighting for his life in the hospital.
Then again, if anyone was going to stare that kind of situation in the face and walk away, it’s Shaw. One of the toughest, and one of the greatest, players in program history.