Carolina Confidential – Wrapping up MSU, moving on to UT
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There have already been a lot of thoughts on the game here on the site, so I’ll try to keep it a little more big-picture in terms of moving things forward the rest of the way.
For most of South Carolina’s win over Mississippi State, it felt like the Gamecocks were in command of the game while simultaneously not being able to completely put the Bulldogs away, despite multiple two-score leads.
While the offensive game plans against North Carolina and Georgia were much more along the lines of just doing anything possible to try and win in the given circumstances (putting it all on Spencer Rattler), this felt much more like a “big picture” game plan to me.
South Carolina felt good about winning the game. And the Gamecocks know they are going to have to eventually have some semblance of a rushing attack if they’re going to have the season they want, so it felt like Carolina wanted to be hard-headed in continuing to call the run, even when there were probably some opportunities to put up even more points by letting Spencer Rattler throw it 35 times again.
I don’t think we’re ready to say the running game has arrived yet. To put it in the words Dowell Loggains has used, it’s definitely still a “work in progress.” Mario Anderson did bring an added element of physicality to the position that was needed and the rushing attack did eliminate the negative plays that have plagued them. And there was a nice payoff for the guys to continue to force the run and cap off the final TD drive of the game with the nine-yard run that showed some physicality on all fronts.
At the same time, I thought there were still some yards left out there by the backs, and a couple of plays where one more solid block could have sprung it — and the longest run by a running back was still just nine yards. There’s progress for sure, but it’s still definitely a work in progress.
— Whether it’s asking him to go throw the ball 40 times or asking him to be efficient and make the most of just 20 throws, as was the case on Saturday, Spencer Rattler continues to do everything right for Carolina.
Cole Cubelic, who was the sideline reporter for the game and will be for this week’s too, made the case on his podcast on Sunday that Rattler may be playing like the best quarterback in the SEC. Cubelic said there are some other guys who are in the convo, including LSU’s Jayden Daniels, but ultimately seemed to settle on Rattler being the best through four weeks of the season.
And it’s really hard to argue against that. Rattler continues to make big-time throws while also keeping the ball out of harm’s way, a difficult line for any QB to walk, especially a gunslinger like him. To me that might be the most impressive thing about what he’s doing — that he’s protecting the ball without becoming that quarterback who only checks the ball down. He’s showing that the end of last year was not a fluke and he will truly give Carolina a chance in every game moving forward. Keep a close eye on how the opposing coaches talk about Rattler moving forward. They know he’s a problem for pretty much every defense.
— I don’t know what else to add about him that hasn’t been said but I can’t write this piece without mentioning Xavier Legette. So impressive.
— I do like the continued progress of receivers like O’Mega Blake, Luke Doty, and Tyshawn Russell. I do think we’ll see Nyck Harbor make a big play sooner rather than later too. There were a couple that appeared to be called for him on Saturday but the ball didn’t end up going to him. Add a healthy Ahmarean Brown back to this bunch and it’s a good bit deeper than we probably perceived it to be coming in, even without Juice Wells in there.
— First the positive on the defensive side, I thought this was the best I’ve seen them defend the run in the last three seasons.
They were winning blocks up front, the linebackers were attacking the line of scrimmage, and the defensive backs were filling in and tackling as well. This was against a team that had run the football very well prior to this week.
Look back to how poorly Carolina defended the stretch and outside zone plays against Missouri last year and compare it to how the Gamecocks set the edge and gobbled those plays up on Saturday. To hold Woody Marks to just 27 yards on 12 carries should be applauded.
While it did feel like Will Rogers had too much time to throw at times, the front did ultimately rack up 30 pressures (8 from Boogie Huntley alone!) according to PFF.
As far as some individual performances, Huntley, Tonka Hemingway, and TJ Sanders all caught my attention and were incredibly disruptive. Jordan Strachan also appears to be returning to form. He got solid pressure and his forced fumble was one of the big plays in the game.
Stone Blanton may have had a forgettable game against UGA but he had one of his better games ever against MSU in my opinion. He was flying to the football, had a forced fumble, and tackled better than a week ago.
— Kudos for Mississippi State for attacking South Carolina’s secondary and forcing mismatches as they sort of picked on the Gamecocks at nickel and safety.
Some of what we saw is correctable (getting lined up late, eyes in the wrong place) but I do think Carolina’s lack of depth at cornerback is showing a little bit. Last year, Carolina was able to play Cam Smith at nickelback with DQ Smith at safety against teams with speedy slot receivers, while playing DQ at nickel when facing teams who were a little more run based (or sometimes out of necessity).
This season, DQ slid back to nickelback in order to get Nick Emmanwori, Jalon Kilgore, and DQ all on the field at once — but I do think they are missing some of that versatility that having a corner to also sometimes play nickelback could provide. All of that said, all of those guys are good players and I expect a bounceback this week.
If Judge Collier continues to come on at cornerback, then it could give Carolina the option to matchup Marcellas Dial at nickel against certain opponents.
— I’ve only just begun to review Tennessee but early impressions are that this is a talented group, though they’re structured a little differently than last year’s team.
Joe Milton, obviously, has the big arm but he’s not the runner that Hendon Hooker was and doesn’t seem to make the big throws out of the pocket like Hooker did. Milton did take an 80-yard house call to open the game last week and showed off his speed, so it’s in there, but it’s just not something he does a ton of
The passing game just hasn’t been as consistent or accurate as it was last year. They’ve run the football well, but overall this offense is very momentum-based. Florida really disrupted their rhythm whereas they seemed to find their tempo and cadence last week against UTSA.
As much as their offense gets the attention, the defense has been really good this year, particularly in pressuring quarterbacks and playing coverage on the back end. This will be another nice test for Carolina’s front in seeing if they can take another step forward in both pass pro and the running game against a talented front.
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