After bad game at MSU, Gamecocks’ defense hits tackling circuits

South Carolina’s tackling fell apart in the first two quarters of Saturday’s loss to Mississippi State, and that set the tone for a discussion around the Gamecocks defense since.

So how does a team fix that? A return to tackling school.

“We worked on fundamental tackling,” linebacker T.J. Holloman said of the start of the week. “We practiced hard. We did a bunch of tackling circuits. Just basically running your feet on contact, not ducking your head, keeping our heads up.”

The senior went as far as to say the game plan against Mississippi State was just about perfect, but the players consistently failed to complete tackles. South Carolina had several plays when they missed multiple tackles, and because Mississippi State was creating plays in space (a contrast to the opener against Vanderbilt), each missed tackle seemed to cost USC more yards.

Cornerback Jamarcus King, who had two or three bad missed tackles, said practice had been more physical, especially working on the perimeter. Coach Will Muschamp has said his teams place an emphasis on plenty of contact in practice.

The defense took the bad day personally, especially for Bryson Allen-Williams, who pointed out the staff makes tackling such a priority.

“It’s disappointing to them, but it’s even more disappointing to us because that’s not what we worked hard for since the spring,” Allen-Williams said. “We didn’t work hard to go out and lay an egg like that.”

This story was originally published September 13, 2016 at 12:36 PM with the headline "After bad game at MSU, Gamecocks’ defense hits tackling circuits."