Two Gamecocks freshmen moving to new position to shore up injury-ravaged spot
At this point, South Carolina’s Brad Johnson is alone out there.
The Gamecocks sophomore started the season as the third at the Gamecocks’ Buck defensive end position depending on how one looked at the depth chart. D.J. Wonnum was ahead of him. Bryson Allen-Williams was at strongside linebacker, but in reality he was the No. 2 Buck most of the time. Then came Johnson and Daniel Fennell, also a strongside linebacker.
Now Wonnum is done for the year with an ankle. Allen Williams is out until the bowl with the same ankle injury. Fennell suffered a torn ACL on Saturday, meaning Johnson played more than 90 snaps.
Reinforcements are coming, but they’re inexperience and being thrown into the fire for the umpteenth time this season.
“JJ Enagbare is a guy that can move outside and do that,” Muschamp said. “So he’s able to do that. We’ll have some combinations of Rosendo Louis can do that as a well, a guy that can go play on the edge if need be. We’ll have some bodies there.”
That shift for Louis adds another layer to what has already been a bit of a roller coaster this season. He was expected to contribute as a reserve middle linebacker, but fell out of the rotation early. He ended up moving to the strongside after Allen-Williams got hurt and then was forced into extra action against Clemson as defensive back shortages meant more three-linebacker looks and Fennell got hurt.
That sometimes meant Louis was out in the flat, lining up across from a quick slot recover in Hunter Renfrow.
Enagbare came to USC as a bigger defensive end, and almost immediately was shifted inside to play defensive tackle. At 285 pounds, he’s been No. 4 in that rotation much of the year and has 11 tackles, two pass breakups and a blocked kick.
He missed last week with a head injury, but Muschamp said he expects the Georiga product will play this week.
Finding bodies on the edge has forced the Gamecocks to get a little creative while stretching things in the middle. That’s meant Keir Thomas playing outside, breaking out Griffin Gentry and Javion Duncan, even planning to play junior college transfer Jabari Ellis for the first time this season.
“We’ve got plenty of guys to go around,” Muschamp said. “We’ve got some depth at the position.”