Coming off Gamecocks’ loss, Will Muschamp made a change: He turned up the intensity

South Carolina football coach Will Muschamp wasn’t pleased with a wide array of things his team did the last time it was on a football field. More than a few fans expressed displeasure at what they saw as a lack of effort, something Muschamp vehemently denied.

But even with that difference of opinions, Muschamp followed with a choice that will likely leave those fans pleased.

“Coach turned up the intensity at practice last week,” Gamecocks tailback Rico Dowdle said. “He said it just starts with practice, how we practice.

“He thinks that has an effect on the outcome of the game.”

That kicked into gear as soon as word came down the Marshall game was canceled by then-Hurricane Florence. USC got in a few off week-style practices on Thursday and Sunday. There was more work with the top units against each other.

“Thursday’s practice was probably, (Muschamp) said it himself, one of the best in-season practices we’ve had since he’s been here,” quarterback Jake Bentley said. “Really competitive. The guys just were just sort of really excited to get out there. We did a lot of good-on-good stuff kind of the whole practice. And really just competitive. Whoever loses the most reps has to run a gasser or whatever.”

Defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw was asked what makes that good kind of practice to him. The answer was honest, if not a hint self-serving.

“In every competition, we’re stopping the offense and making them run a gasser,” Kinlaw said. “That’s a good practice to me.”

He claimed the defense was winning more often, but Bentley said at least on that Thursday, the offense won the day.

Bentley said the hope is to change a mindset, from players saying they have to practice to thinking they “get” to practice.

There’s also the hope it can serve as a slight reset of sorts. Although the Gamecocks were on the wrong end of a talent gap against Georgia, they also made a wide array of mistakes that let the game get out of hand.

They’re now going into a stretch against two division opponents, one they’ll have to beat to avoid an upset, the other to maintain their pursuit of at least second place in the East.

Muschamp has long preached the seeds of game-day success are sown at practice. USC missed the chance to wash away the taste of Georgia against Marshall, and while the sudden chance to work on themselves was good, it didn’t quite make up for missing real action.

“Practice is practice you know, and a game is a game,” Kinlaw said. “That’s how I think about it.

“There ain’t nothing like a game.”

This story was originally published September 20, 2018 at 11:44 AM.