Dark side of USCs high tempo: Why it’s harder on the linemen

South Carolina football’s offensive buzzword all offseason has been tempo. Get faster, go faster, adapt to the modern standard for style of game.

It should yield something good down the road, but the transition isn’t always the most fun.

“It sucks for the O-line,” guard/center Cory Helms said. “But it’s even worse for the D-line. You’ve just got to look at the positives. They’re more tired than we are.”

The hope is to use opponents’ fatigue to the Gamecocks’ advantage and build a defense front deep enough to roll bodies and mitigate that factor.

The question lingers, why do the big guys on defense tire so much faster?

“Because they’re more out of shape and fatter,” Helms said to a laugh. “No, I think they run around a little more.”

New run game

Sometimes South Carolina tailback A.J. Turner gets called up in front of the class.

The redshirt freshman runner will be in in the Gamecocks running back meeting and he’ll have to diagram what will go on in front of him, the responsibilities of five or six other players.

“Coach (Bobby) Bentley calls me up,” Turner said. “ ‘A.J., draw this play up, draw the blocking scheme. What are you supposed to do on this play?’ "

He has to do this because the Gamecocks running game will be getting a retrofit. A year ago, South Carolina’s running game was built on two core running concepts, with a set of change-up plays.

That’s set to change with more blocking concepts that put guards in motion to power open holes.

“I believe now we're a lot more spread out and not so obsessed with inside zone,” Turner said.

Inside zone is a core running concept that’s a pillar in nearly every offense in the country, and even more important in spread attacks. Last year, it accounted for give or take half of South Carolina’s running plays.

“For the running backs this year and our scheme, we want to get out in open space,” Turner said. “Make plays, one-on-one. We love the one-on-ones. We like the odds.”

Lined up

The Gamecocks are looking for more players to step up in the heart of their defensive line, and Helms has to deal with all of them. A scout teamer last year and probable starting lineman through the spring, he's gone toe to toe, and a few stood out.

"I would say Kelsey (Griffin) does a good job with his hands," Helms said. "I think honestly they’ve all gotten so much better. (freshman) Kobe Smith has gotten a lot better. Ulric (Jones) has gotten a lot better. Taylor (Stallworth) can really play when he’s healthy."

The group is now under the tutelage of an experienced hand in position coach Lance Thompson. How much of a mark has he made?

"I’m not really sure what he’s doing," Helms said. "But it’s working."

Coaching shift

Helms has played for four coaches in four college seasons, a pretty impressive feat in retrospect. He was recruited by Jim Grobe at Wake Forest, got a new coach in David Clawson in Year 2, and has now gone through the Spurrier-Muschamp transition.

The foursome of coaches runs the gamut from Grob’s respected stoicism to Clawson’s gregarious personality to the snappy charms of Spurrier to Muschamp. Someone posed to Helms, does his new coach remind him of any of the other three?

“Absolutely not,” Helms said. “Especially not coach Grobe. Coach Grobe, I don’t think he even talked on the sideline hardly. He was a great coach, one of the greats, but very different.”

Not that he’s complaining. The fourth-year junior said he liked the energy and fire Muschamp brings.

This story was originally published August 9, 2016 at 1:41 PM with the headline "Dark side of USCs high tempo: Why it’s harder on the linemen."