One area South Carolina put in work on during scrimmage: Short-yardage running
During Monday’s scrimmage, the South Carolina football team spent some time focused on a problem area — something that really irked fans through much of last season.
“Had a whole period (Monday) just dedicated to short yardage and getting better and running the ball,” Gamecocks coach Will Muschamp said. “Executing better in short-yardage situations. I’ve been very pleased with our backs.”
That became a nagging issue through much of last season. South Carolina was 86th nationally in converting third downs (38 percent). A part of that was converting in short yardage, where USC was at 65.1 percent (No. 88 in the country).
That was boosted by going 8-for-9 against Missouri and Louisiana Tech early in the season. USC was often reliant on its inside zone scheme in those situations, and simply struggled to get push on a consistent basis.
That might have been addressed with a more stout interior of Donell Stanley, Zack Bailey and Sadarius Hucherson. But running through contact was also sometimes an issue.
On a key fourth down against Kentucky, Rico Dowdle was stopped by a corner in space. On at least a few other occasions, backs tried to bounce out and were dragged down where a surge might have secured a conversion.
In working on those short-yardage situations, Muschamp saw a glimmer of promise going beyond even just the running backs.
“Deebo’s got a big lower body,” Muschamp said. “He’s a hard guy to tackle. You saw him running through contact (Monday) on the perimeter. Rico’s been a guy that’s gotten a lot of positive yards. Ty’Son had a big run today in short yardage split of about 60. It was a big-time run on a 3rd and 1 situation. We really put an emphasis on the red zone offensively.”