It’s the position Will Muschamp works most closely with. He’s not real pleased

South Carolina football coach Will Muschamp broke out the phrase ‘deplorable’ to describe what he saw against Georgia.

One of his safeties, the position he works the most hands on with, didn’t do his job. A freshman jumped up when he wasn’t supposed to, and a wide receiver went streaking downfield uncovered.

“It’s deplorable that we line up and leave a slot (receiver) uncovered, which I don’t know that’s happened once in my coaching career,” Muschamp said. “That a middle field safety won’t tell a young freshman to cover down on the slot. That’s a huge, major issue.”

The bigger problem: it’s not an isolated issue.

Though two games, the play at that spot has been a problem. USC has played primarily four guys there. It’s a spot the boasts two grad transfers, a four-star recruit and one of the most veteran players on the defense.

But all that hasn’t helped to this point.

“I’m not real pleased with where we are,” Muschamp said.

The central point has been communication. The Gamecocks rely on their safeties to be the main communicators on the team, to get folks lined up, to run the show from the back end.

South Carolina’s defense had more than a few busts in both of the first two games. No one from the group of J.T. Ibe, Steven Montac, Nick Harvey and Jamyest Williams has yet grabbed control of the position. The group has almost no disruptive plays (forced fumble, pass defended, sack, tackle for loss), the only one being a single assisted tackle behind the line.

Overall, the defense has a lot more time to grow, nine or 10 games starting with a rough SEC gauntlet. But this problem is one the staff saw coming and one that trickles down. It’s one that can probably be most easily be shored up, but that fact in itself seemed to have Will Muschamp the most frustrated.

“Communication is a major issue for us and has been one through camp and now into our first two ballgames,” Muschamp said. “If we do that better, then you put yourself in a position to tackle better, which the tackling has not been awful, but we need to tackle better and need to be more productive overall.”