Gamecocks film breakdown: What happened late; how Mond broke out; King’s lost gamble
The high-water mark for South Carolina’s football team Saturday came with about 7 1/2 minutes remaining in the third quarter.
The offense had pushed the lead to double digits, and the defense managed to force a three-and-out. If the next drive or two could yield any points, it would leave Texas A&M trying to rally with an inconsistent passing game.
Instead the Gamecocks offense had four consecutive three-and-outs as the Aggies cut the lead to seven, then tied it, then went ahead by a point. Looking closely, the primary culprit was an inability to block, which prevented the run from working and left quarterback Jake Bentley to get pummeled.
The Gamecocks staff might have been criticized for going “conservative” on that first drive, though in this case that could be another way to say “called runs that didn’t work.” USC opened with two runs, a sweep to the boundary and an inside zone.
On the first, Hayden Hurst worked down to the middle linebacker, but no one accounted for the weakside linebacker, who knifed in. Donell Stanley couldn’t come across quick enough to get him, but it’s not clear if that was someone else’s responsibility. On the second run, the middle of the line got whipped, plain and simple.
Sweep
Bentley said at least one of those runs involved a safety coming down after the play was in motion, but execution was still lacking. A third-down screen was a little conservative, but pressure blew it up anyway.
On the next nine USC plays, Bentley was sacked five times and knocked down twice on eight dropbacks. One sack was a miss by a running back. Four came with five or more rushers, and one came with four coming upfield and one peeling off to chase a running back.
There were multiple occasions where players just lost battles one-on-one. Redshirt freshman Sadarius Hutcherson had particular trouble in some spots.
The Gamecocks didn’t help their case when Bryan Edwards could have erased a second-and-long but couldn’t hold onto a ball that was in his grasp.
USC had been able to convert some big plays despite Bentley having to dodge folks in the pocket. But that wasn’t something that continued as things tightened up.
QB contain or lack thereof
When the Texas A&M offense really got going, it came down to Kellen Mond. The highly-touted freshman qaurterback was thrown into the fire, showing inconsistency in the passing game but a lot of potential as a runner.
And boy did that burn the Gamecocks.
He had one solid run on the field goal drive that cut USC’s lead to seven, and a possession later, he shined. On the first play, Mond slipped a dead-to-rights T.J. Brunson sack, and found all sorts of space for 18 yards. A few plays later, he crossed the goal line (before a penalty) after one pass rusher got pinned inside and he stepped into space.
He also had a dart on a dig route for 26 yards when his protection held up.
The issue with Mond is that he was probably a better athlete in space than most of USC’s defenders. The kid is tall, agile and quick.
After the game, some of the players were asked about spying Mond. While that sounds like an easy fix, spying isn’t all that common for a reason.
Simply put, modern offenses rely on creating space and having numbers when the ball finds it. All 11 defenders are usually needed just to contain things. As such, dedicating one defender to mirroring the QB likely opens things elsewhere, and using someone athletic enough to match Mond takes one of the top defenders away from doing something else.
Most of the time in the current context, a spy is a luxury against a team that needs to pass quickly, or a robber defender who sits in zone in the middle of the field and disrupts short inside routes.
Screen or power
The Aggies are extremely proficient at one spread staple, but South Carolina did a good job containing it.
Texas A&M often goes to plays that combine a screen to the wide side of the field with a base run/zone read in the box. With the level of talent the Aggies have at the skill positions, this means defenses have to cover a lot of ground and make tackles, or a five-yard gain could be 50.
USC wasn’t perfect, but it was pretty good, especially in limiting monster receiver Christian Kirk (four catches, 13 yards) and the A&M running backs (8.5 yards a catch).
King’s play
There was a lot of angst over Gamecocks corner Jamarcus King getting aggressive on a third-and-9 in a tie game, and giving up a 21-yard gain on the go-ahead touchdown drive.
On second look, the choice was probably sound, but the play was just a bit out of reach.
Were King to play a little more off, he’s likely giving up at least 11 yards, maybe one or two more if the tackle isn’t a great stick. At that point, it would be first and 10, at or inside USC’s 35.
Had King gotten a hand on the ball, the Gamecocks are likely getting the ball back in a tie game (albeit with bad field position).
The horizontal plane
Some questions came up after the game about why South Carolina couldn’t go more to screens on the edges and work the horizontal passing game.
Jake Bentley answered succinctly, and it’s worth looking at.
“When they’re pressing us though, it’s kind of hard to throw quick passes,” Bentley said. “Tight man-to-man coverage, for the most part.”
Texas A&M is one of the most press-heavy teams on the outside you’ll find. The Aggies staff correctly thinks it can play guys up, force harder passes and limit long-developing plays with a good pass rush.
That’s easier when four of the top six defensive backs were four-star prospects and with a four- and five-star up front. And even with that, USC got some explosive plays despite the massive woes up front, but that wasn’t quite consistent enough.
One great play
The touchdown to OrTre Smith was very well drawn up. He runs a simple in or dig, with two backs, the pulling guard, Mon Denson wheeling up the sideline while A.J. Turner stayed in the flat to open a nice window.
This story was originally published October 2, 2017 at 6:03 PM with the headline "Gamecocks film breakdown: What happened late; how Mond broke out; King’s lost gamble."