Will Muschamp: ‘Prevent's not in our vocabulary defensively’

South Carolina football coach Will Muschamp has answered a lot of questions about that pass.

It was the 39-yarder that allowed Tennessee to get in scoring range in the final moments of a win. He already explained what happened, a safety biting on the wrong receiver opening up the middle, but he's also heard talk of "prevent defenses" being to blame.

And that didn't sit well.

"Prevent's not in our vocabulary defensively," Muschamp said on his call-in show Thursday night. "We did drop eight on that play. That was a situation that they needed a touchdown, had no timeouts. We wanted to expend as much time until they got to the 50-yard line and then start playing third-down defense from there."

The most technical definition of a prevent defense is the deep-dropping coverage a team uses against Hail Marys, but it's more often used as a catch-all for any defense that trades yardage for time (usually derisively after an offense gets going).

South Carolina's defense had some issues in late-half situations this seasons, notably early against N.C. State. The group has been good at preventing big passing plays this season.

But Muschamp was clear, execution, not some prevent scheme, was at fault for that game becoming a closer call.

"I don't care whether you rush three, four, five, six or seven,” Muschamp said. "If you bust a coverage and don't cover a guy, they're going to complete the pass."