South Carolina dabbled in shaking up offensive line before Clemson game
Will Muschamp’s South Carolina football team changed up its offensive line following a poor performance in the season opener.
The coaching staff at least toyed around with some more changes heading into the rivalry game against Clemson.
Muschamp has promised changes in the running game through the weeks, and it seems each changeup or tweak hasn’t been very effective. The team has averaged fewer than 2.7 yards per carry in three of the past four games.
Now the staff has at least dabbled in moving some pieces around up front.
“We’ve looked at some different combinations,” Muschamp said last week. “Possibly Sadarius Hutcherson at guard a little bit more, Jakai Moore at tackle. Jaylen Nichols is coming back off an injury as well. We’ve got to continue to improve where we are, because the last two weeks have not been acceptable.”
Hutcherson has been the team’s starting right tackle all season after moving outside from guard, where he started last season and filled in the season prior. Moore started one game as a third-string right tackle, in place of Dylan Wonnum, and Nichols started four games for Wonnum, until he hurt his ankle.
Getting those players out more means more raw strength and movement skills, but perhaps even less in the way of experience.
Hutcherson sliding inside would mean replacing either Jordan Rhodes or Jovaughn Gwyn, both young players still learning their way around. Rhodes has been playing left guard next to Hutcherson.
Both Rhodes and Gwyn were not in the opening game starting lineup. Donell Stanley and Eric Douglas were at the guard spots to start, with Hank Manos at center, but after a disastrous game against North Carolina, Stanley moved down to center, Rhodes stepped in for him and Gwyn supplanted Douglas.
The results have still not been great. There was a stretch in the middle of the year, when the offense could grind forward against Florida, Georgia and Alabama. But then teams started loading the box and blitzing linebackers into USC’s pin-and-pull run scheme.
Through 11 games, the Gamecocks are 97th nationally in how often their runs gain 5 yards, 122nd in how often they convert on short yardage, though they are about average in how often opponents are getting to the quarterback.
Muschamp has oft blamed some of the run game issues on a lackluster pass game, but that doesn’t mean they’re not at least experimenting with the guys up front.
“We’ve had some communication issues,” Muschamp said. “At the end of the day, we’ve got to block. We’ve run the ball against some really good fronts this year, and I was disappointed we weren’t able to run the ball better.”
This story was originally published November 26, 2019 at 8:12 AM.
