Insiders Report: What we’re hearing from South Carolina’s first scrimmage

On Saturday, South Carolina held their first inter-squad scrimmage of fall camp. Like any first scrimmage, things weren’t always pretty but there were some positives to take away.

Let’s first begin with the good on defense.

The defense as a unit had a strong day. From the several sources I’ve talked with, in regards to which players stood out, the names mentioned the most to me were Debo Williams, Bryan Thomas Jr., T.J. Sanders, Kyle Kennard, and Dylan Stewart.

Typically, the defense will be ahead of the offense at this time of the year. But from what I’ve been told, the defense is looking well ahead of where they have looked at this point compared to the past few years. One source said, “Guys are playing faster, which tells me that they’re playing with more confidence in the scheme. Things aren’t perfect but it’s only a week into camp. The hype about this defense is real.”

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Offensively, the good starts with the running backs. Despite Rocket Sanders being held out, transfer running back Oscar Adaway had some “hard runs” and “flashed with this versatility.”

“He’s a complete back,” one source said on Saturday. “If he keeps doing some of the things he’s been doing so far in camp, like with his pass protection as well as catching passes out of the backfield like he’s been doing this camp, then he should see a lot of playing time this season.”

Another running back who I was told played well on Saturday was true freshman Matthew Fuller. A different source told me about Fuller, “He had some real powerful runs. He broke a few tackles and just looked smooth. He’s been picking things up quickly throughout camp so far despite not being here in the spring. It’s too early to tell how the team will use him but Saturday was a big plus for him.”

As far as what’s going on with Rocket, two different sources relayed a similar message to me. That message is that there’s nothing wrong with the transfer running back but instead, the coaching staff is just being extra cautious with him. Since he didn’t practice this spring, he’s still getting used to contact and the last thing this staff wants to do is risk setting him back by rushing him back too quickly.

Two other players whose names were also mentioned to me by sources I spoke with on Saturday were Nick Harbor and Vershon Lee.

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Harbor made a, “really impressive catch” in the scrimmage on a day that the offense struggled to get much going. While there wasn’t much more said to me about Harbor’s performance in the scrimmage, I’ve been told that Harbor has been consistent with catching passes in practices.

“There’s been fewer dropped balls this camp with him, for sure. That’s been noticeable.”

The big thing I was told about Lee was that he looks more comfortable at center. That shouldn’t come as a surprise, after appearing in five games at center last season.

One of the biggest struggles the offense had in Saturday’s scrimmage, I was told, was penalties. The majority of those penalties occurred during plays.

“The offense had too many critical self-inflicted wounds. It’s all correctable but some of the penalties that happened on Saturday just can’t happen.”

Special teams-wise, Shane Beamer said during his press conference on Saturday that there have been inconsistencies with their kicking competition before complimenting the job Kai Kroeger and Mason Love have done with punting. To dig deeper into special teams, I’ve been told that players are starting to adjust to Joe DeCamillis’ scheme and coaching.

“In the spring, it was different compared to how (Pete) Lembo did things,” once source. “But, when you listen to DeCamillis talk, it’s obvious that knows what he’s talking about. Special teams as a whole are in a good place. Guys know what to do and the speed is continuing to increase.”

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