(Video): 2-Minute Drill: Final thoughts before South Carolina kicks off against Miss. State
Before South Carolina takes on Mississippi State this evening, here’s a few updates on today’s game plus a reminder what the keys are for the Gamecocks. Watch the video above.
Ahmarean Brown
After being out last week, AB was on the field stretching during warm ups, which is a good sign that he’ll hopefully be playing tonight. With no Juice Wells in the lineup this week, having Brown tonight would be a huge plus.
[Become a GamecockCentral member for $1]
1. Third-down, fourth-down stops
When you’re already lacking depth on defense and your offense ranks 128 out of 130 teams in the country in rushing, getting off the field becomes a higher priority for a defense. Especially when your defensive players are taking every, or almost every, defensive snap.
Last week again Georgia, South Carolina’s defense faced 80 snaps. Of those 80 snaps, here were the highest snaps played:
LB: Debo Williams – 80
DB: Marcellas Dial – 80
DB: Nick Emmanwori – 80
DB: DQ Smith – 80
DB: OD Fortune – 69
LB: Stone Blanton – 68
[Win a framed print of the 2022 A&M game]
For a comparison, South Carolina’s offense ran 61 plays.
Last week, Georgia was 5-of-13 on third downs and 2-for-2 on fourth downs. A lot of those conversions came in the second half, which doesn’t help you when your offense is struggling to stay on the field.
Defensive coordinator Clayton White said on Wednesday that they, “probably should’ve got Pup Howard another 15 plays” at linebacker. He also added that the DB room is young but it’s coming along. While that’s great to hear you still need to help yourself out this weekend, as a defense, by not allowing Mississippi State to extend drives.
2. Create TFL & stop the run
If you think the run game has been nonexistent, wait until I tell you where South Carolina ranks in tackles for loss. Through three games, the Gamecocks have racked up ten TFL, which ranks them second to last in the country of out 130 teams. Only Georgia Tech has fewer TFL with seven.
[GamecockCentral Business Network]
Through three games, Mississippi State is a middle of the pack team when it comes to allowing TFL (five per game). It’s crazy to say “force Mississippi State to throw the football,” after the the success the late Mike Leach had with the air raid offense, but that’s what USC needs to do this weekend. If they can make Mississippi State one dimensional, they’ll be able to eliminate what’s been a successful rushing attack while also creating more opportunities to rack up TFL and sacks. Heading into Saturday’s game, MSU is averaging 179 yds/gm in rushing.
3- Establish the run
At least compared to the rest of the country, Mississippi State’s rush defense is in the top one-third in FBS. But they’re still allowing over 112 yards rushing a game. Through three games, the Gamecocks have rushed for a whooping 159 yards.
What gives me some hope that the Gamecocks can get the run game going this weekend is because the offensive line is starting to slowly improve.
As I posted on TIF, the reality is USC was already thin with proven depth on the OL heading into the season. Losing your starting LT during the spring game put them behind the eight-ball heading into camp. Add in your starting RT going down two series into the game against UNC and we saw how ugly things got.
[Get breaking news from GamecockCentral]
With how ugly Week 1 was with blocking, they had to find a way to make adjustments on the fly. That’s why it’s still far from perfect but the protection has been better and some of that has to do with the fact they’re getting extra help at RB with blocking via Dakereon Joyner. That added protection has given Spencer Rattler extra time to show why he’s one of the best QBs in the country. That and the fact that USC is ranked eighth in passing yards per game.
From everything I’ve been told, Mario Anderson has been gaining a lot of confidence over the past two weeks. Between that and the OL showing growth, I expect that we’ll see Anderson to start seeing more touches.
Discuss South Carolina Football on The Insiders Forum!
The post (Video): 2-Minute Drill: Final thoughts before South Carolina kicks off against Miss. State appeared first on On3.
