Point of pride: Gamecocks pulling things together on the O-line

Life for South Carolina’s offensive line hasn’t been easy this season.

The unit was already a work in progress in spots before it lost Zack Bailey, Malik Young and Cory Helms to injuries.

The group is in its third consecutive week of trying to pull things together, and the line started Saturday’s game against Arkansas with exactly one player, Alan Knott, at the spot where he started the season.

So there’s something cathartic about an outing where the run blocking had stretches of pushing the Razorbacks around and eventually picked up on their pressure packages.

“It’s tremendous,” Knott said. “I think it shows that we’re capable of doing whatever we want on offensive side of the ball. I think we’ve got to continue to work on it.”

D.J. Park started the game at right tackle with Blake Camper rotating in. The group even lost another tackle, Dennis Daley, to cramps, and Camper stepped in on the left side.

Muschamp said the staff spoke well of what Camper did when he got thrown in, while Knott praised guard Sadarius Hutcherson for his work against Arkansas’ pressure packages.

And one teammate credited Knott for keeping the group afloat.

“It’s unbelievable to see Alan Knott really, with the guys out, really take control of the offensive line and rally the guys together, and have that motto of ‘so what, now what,’ ” quarterback Jake Bentley said.

Knott said the Gamecocks took some time to figure out exactly what Arkansas was sending at them. The pressure came from every direction, and Bentley said many of the looks had not been shown on film.

But the Gamecocks eventually settled down and figured that out.

It was a big step after Bentley took five sacks in a stretch of nine USC snaps as the Texas A&M game slipped away.

“I’m tremendously proud,” Knott said. “Especially after last week, we kind of broke down there at the end, including myself. But it’s something that has to be done. Just getting those guys on the right page is a big task.”

This story was originally published October 9, 2017 at 12:35 PM.