Morris: Gamecocks halfway to being a good team

SOUTH CAROLINA’S less-than-scintillating victory against Vanderbilt on Saturday night is one of those half-full, half-empty deals.

Let’s be nice and address the half-full part first. It took four games, but USC’s defense finally lived up to its preseason hype. It was suffocating, swarming and dominating.

Vanderbilt never had a chance because the likes of Melvin Ingram, Antonio Allen, Jadeveon Clowney and Devin Taylor played with abandon. The entire unit played like one of the nation’s best.

“Vandy’s not a great offense. We knew that coming in,” Steve Spurrier said. “But to hold them to five first downs and (77 yards), that was a super defensive game no matter who we’re playing.”

Vanderbilt had difficulty getting out of its own backfield. Running plays for positive yardage were virtually nonexistent. Even passing plays concluded with negative yardage.

The Commodores did not manage their initial first down until 11 minutes remained in the second quarter. They finished with five first downs, the fewest by a USC opponent since Wake Forest accumulated four in 1987.

Beyond that, the defense produced its fourth touchdown of the season. This one went to Ingram, who jumped on a fumble in the end zone for his second defensive touchdown of the season. That matches the touchdown total of Allen.

While USC’s defense has managed to produce big plays in the opening four wins, it has not been nearly as consistent at limiting — or shutting down — opposing offenses like it did against Vanderbilt.

“We practiced better this week. The attitude, the work ethic, the focus was better,” said Ellis Johnson, assistant head coach for defense. “I think maybe we’re waking up to the fact we’re not going to roll our helmets out on the field in this league and be very good. We’re going to have to practice, and we’re going to have to come to the park with a chip on our shoulder, or we’re just pretty average.”

At this point, the USC offense probably would accept “pretty average.”

It managed two touchdowns, one with 33 seconds remaining in the first half on a screen pass that Marcus Lattimore turned into a 52-yard jaunt to the end zone. The other — a 22-yard run by Lattimore — was set up by a 41-yard fluke pass completion that ricocheted off Alshon Jeffery into the hands of Ace Sanders.

Spurrier described his offense as “putrid.” He was kind.

As much as USC fans had to cheer about their defense’s performance, they also chose to exercise their lungs by booing the offense. The first negative chorus came when quarterback Stephen Garcia threw one up for grabs and a Vanderbilt defender snatched it on USC’s initial possession.

Then they directed their disgust at Spurrier on the next USC possession when he called for a sneak by Garcia that fell short on fourth-and-1 at the USC 40. Two possessions later, the boo birds were back when Garcia scrambled and threw a perfect strike … to a Vanderbilt defender.

Just when you thought USC’s offense could not get worse, Spurrier trotted out Bruce Ellington to direct the “attack” out of the Wildcat formation. The first snap to Ellington slipped through his hands for a 15-yard loss. Then Garcia muffed the center exchange for a loss of 4 more yards.

The boos followed.

“Hopefully, this is the last week we play like this offensively,” said Garcia, who has seven interceptions and three touchdown passes this season. “I don’t think we can survive playing like that. We know we’ve got to get better.”

Take away the 52-yard screen and the 41-yard jump-ball reception, and USC was limited to 254 yards of offense. When it did click, a penalty seemed to nullify the gain. Over the course of the game, USC also burned four timeouts to avoid delay-of-game penalties.

It was an offense that was out of sorts, to be sure.

“It’s a little discouraging at times that we’re not executing any better and getting all those stupid penalties,” Spurrier said. “That’s really embarrassing.”

Embarrassing that USC’s offense looks no better after four games than it did in the season-opening win against East Carolina. Spurrier and USC fans only can hope the offense takes a cue from the defense and finally gets its act together next week against Auburn.

Then it will be a half-full deal for the entire team.