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USC defense: Men of steal

The Gamecocks finally won the turnover battle with two forced fumbles and an interception against Mississippi

usc vs miss

University of South Carolina Nos. 96 Clifton Geathers and 92 Byron McKnight sandwich Ole Miss QB No. 4 Jevan Snead, who fumbled the ball in the first half. USC's Nathan Pepper scooped up the loose ball and ran it back for a touchdown.

Erik Campos/ecampos@thestate.com /Erk Campos

Written by JOSEPH PERSON

jperson@thestate.com
Posted on 10.08.08
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Like winning, losing and the flu, turnovers are contagious.

So when South Carolina defensive end Clifton Geathers stripped the ball from Mississippi quarterback Jevan Snead on Saturday and Nathan Pepper rumbled 29 yards with it for a second-quarter touchdown, Geathers sensed it would be a good day for the Gamecocks’ defense.

“The momentum changes when turnovers come our way, when we get the ball,” Geathers said. “Everything changes. The attitude of the game changes. It’s like, ‘We’ve got to keep on doing this. I want to get a turnover. You got a turnover? I want a turnover.’ That’s how it goes. Momentum changes everything.”

Turnovers helped change USC’s fortunes in SEC play: The Gamecocks’ 31-24 win was their first conference victory in seven tries, dating to a 38-23 win against Kentucky that turned on Eric Norwood’s two fumble returns for touchdowns.

After Pepper’s second career defensive score, the Rebels regained momentum before strong safety Emanuel Cook snatched it back with a 52-yard fumble return after Ole Miss had driven to the Gamecocks’ 6-yard line leading 21-17 in the third quarter.

Cornerback Carlos Thomas erased any thoughts of an Ole Miss comeback by picking off Snead in the left flat with about a minute left.

It was the first time in six games that USC had won the turnover battle. In their seven-point losses to Vanderbilt and Georgia, the Gamecocks had a total of five turnovers and one takeaway.

Overall, USC is 10th in the SEC and tied for 100th out of 119 teams nationally in turnover margin at minus-5.

Gamecocks coach Steve Spurrier said he used to think rushing yardage was the most telling statistic in a game: out-rush your opponent, and most of the time, your team will win.

Not anymore.

“I believe it’s come down to the turnovers; I really do. If you look at all the games around the country nowadays,” Spurrier said Tuesday. “Look at Vanderbilt; they’re what, 5-0 now? And they’re at the bottom of the league in offense and defense, or near the bottom, but they’re first in turnover margin. It’s truly important.”

The Commodores are last in the SEC in offense (114th nationally) and 10th in defense. But Bobby Johnson’s team is first in the nation in turnover margin at plus-9.

Vandy has 11 interceptions, which is equal to USC’s total number of takeaways.

“We haven’t gotten many turnovers. The ball hasn’t swung our way a bunch of times,” said Cook, the team’s leading tackler. “Tennessee game last year, they had a couple fumbles that we couldn’t get on. ... But everything seems to be coming around.”

In discussing the Gamecocks’ lack of turnovers a couple weeks ago, Spurrier said defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson wanted his players to hit harder. That seemed to be the case at Ole Miss, where safeties Chris Culliver and Akeem Auguste made jarring hits that led to a fumble and a pass breakup, respectively.

“We’ve got to go out and force ourselves to get at least three every game,” linebacker Eric Norwood said. “We feel like if we get at least three, we’re going to be pretty well off.”

The flip side of turnover margin is USC’s offense protecting the ball.

The Gamecocks’ quarterbacks have combined to throw an SEC-high 12 interceptions. Though Chris Smelley was the SEC’s offensive player of the week after passing for a career-high 327 yards and three touchdowns against the Rebels, he threw one interception and was nearly picked off a second time — part of the reason Spurrier has been reluctant to heap too much praise on the right-hander.

So if the Gamecocks hope to win more turnover battles, not to mention games, it will be incumbent on their offensive players to take care of the ball and their defensive players to take it away.

“We keep winning the turnover margin,” Cook said, “we’re going to win a lot of games here.”

USC's takeaways vs. Mississippi

1. Nathan Pepper’s 29-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown gave USC a 17-14 lead in the second quarter.

2. Emanuel Cook’s 52-yard fumble return set up USC’s go-ahead score in the third quarter and stopped an Ole Miss drive at USC’s 6-yard-line.

3. Carlos Thomas intercepted an Ole Miss pass with about a minute remaining to seal USC’s victory.

TURNOVER MARGIN

South Carolina is tied for 100th in the Football Bowl Subdivision in turnover margin, at -.83 per game. A game-by-game breakdown:


USC: Four interceptions>N.C. State: two fumbles, two interceptions—
USC: Two interceptions, one fumbleVanderbilt: one fumble-2
USC: One interception, one fumbleGeorgia: None-2
USC: Two interceptions, one fumbleWofford: None-3
USC: Two interceptions, one fumbleUAB: Two interceptions, one fumble—
USC: One interceptionMississippi: One interception, two fumbles+2

Reach Person at (803) 771-8496.

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