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Ingram fills in for USC line
Injuries along the front mean the sophomore will be counted on against FAU
By JOSEPH PERSONjperson@thestate.com
Melvin Ingram (6) barrels down on N.C. State sophomore quarterback No. 16 Russell Wilson in the Gamecocks' first game of the year.
- Erik Campos/ecampos@thestate.com
Regardless of how South Carolina defensive tackle Melvin Ingram plays Saturday in his first career start, he already has shown coaches a sense of commitment.
Ingram, who will step in for the injured Nathan Pepper against Florida Atlantic, learned this past weekend that his grandmother in the Boston area had died following an illness. Gamecocks defensive line coach Brad Lawing gave Ingram the option of returning home to Hamlet, N.C., this week to be with his family.
But the redshirt sophomore elected to stay with the team, providing a boost to a defensive line unit missing half of its starters. Ingram will leave immediately after the game to attend his grandmother’s funeral Sunday in North Carolina.
“He talked to his mom. I said, ‘It’s your decision,’” Lawing said Monday. “And between the two of them, they said, ‘Your teammates need you right now.’ ... That’s a big sacrifice.”
The interior of the Gamecocks’ defensive line is getting low on bodies. With Ladi Ajiboye serving the final game of his three-game suspension and Pepper sidelined with a sprained ankle, USC will be without both of its starting defensive tackles against the Owls.
“You’re getting thin when we lost Pep,” Lawing said. “We get Ladi back in another week. But for this game, Melvin’s gotta step up. Kenny Davis gotta step up. You take who you’ve got. I’ve always said that.”
The Gamecocks were down a man nearly the entire Georgia game after Pepper was injured on the Bulldogs’ second offensive play. USC switched to a three-man front, a look that left the Gamecocks vulnerable between the tackles.
Lawing thought Ingram, who finished with two tackles against the Bulldogs, played well after being pressed into duty.
“He was in on a couple tackles and got some push inside,” Lawing said. “He did some good things.”
Travian Robertson will start his third consecutive game in place of Ajiboye, but Ingram and Davis are still learning the position. Davis was redshirted last year as a freshman, while Ingram is a former linebacker who missed all of last season with a foot injury.
“He had his hand down for half the spring and then this August,” Lawing said of Ingram. “He’s been a defensive lineman probably for about 40-some practices.”
The 6-foot-2, 297-pound Ingram is one of the Gamecocks’ strongest players, able to bench press more than 400 pounds and squat more than 500. He will get a chance Saturday to prove he is more than just a weight-room warrior.
“My coach is going to put me in a position to answer that question,” he said. “They’re just going to have me out here working hard, knowing all the plays and just put me in a position so I can make plays.”
Pepper said he is not concerned about the young replacements.
“Like I told y’all before, the guys won’t play unless they’re ready,” Pepper said. “Coach will leave two tackles in there the whole time, or he’ll play one tackle. We’ll go three down. It doesn’t matter.”
A former high school running back, Ingram played one snap at fullback against the Bulldogs and said he would like to get a carry this year.
But his chief responsibility presently is to clog the middle, keep blockers off the USC linebackers and hold the fort until Ajiboye and Pepper return.
Extra points. USC coach Steve Spurrier said there likely would be changes along the offensive line, but he will not announce them until later in the week so media members “won’t pester ... the guys that got benched.” ... Pepper should have more of a timetable for his return after doctors remove a soft cast and re-examine his right ankle today. Pepper hopes to play against Mississippi on Sept. 24, although Spurrier expects him to miss two to three weeks.
Reach Person at (803) 771-8496.