Muschamp expects some ‘drastically different’ schemes in Gamecock run game this year
By the end of the 2019 college football season, South Carolina’s running game had been pared down again and again.
Injuries had touched the backfield in various ways, but the team had tightened its uses of different base schemes, relying primarily on its down-around sweep play and counter runs as the base of the attack.
But things might look different this season, perhaps dramatically so.
“I think our running game is going to be drastically different schematically from a year ago,” Gamecocks coach Will Muschamp said in a recent radio interview with SportsTalkSC. “Now there’s a lot of the same passing concepts, obviously with coach [Bryan] McClendon and coach [Mike] Bobo’s backgrounds together, that we have. But there will be a little bit more under center than we’ve been before in our previous three years.”
Through the end of last season, the Gamecocks had become one of the most pass-heavy teams in the country. The inside zone runs that had been a base for much of 2016-18 — and are the base for many offenses nationally — were used less and less as last season wore on.
The Gamecocks running game also lost some of its effectiveness as the season went on, finishing 104th nationally in yards per carry (3.6) against FBS competition. That was part of the reason Bobo replaced McClendon as offensive coordinator.
“Mike is a firm believer that you’ve got to be able to run the football,” Muschamp said.
Bobo’s teams at Georgia were often built on Power I football, with a slew of talented NFL backs coming downhill. His Colorado State offenses had more of a mix of things. They ran from the shotgun, from single-back looks, sometimes deployed a fullback or an H-back that played like a fullback.
Those teams included different sets of productive backs, including Dalyn Dawkins running for 867, 919 and 1,399 yards in his final three seasons.
In the heyday of the Spurrier years, South Carolina’s running offense was often built on being simple, with only a few concepts. Under Shawn Elliott, the Gamecocks ran primarily inside zone, with that down-around sweep as a second pitch and a few other looks (draws, option plays, power runs) sprinkled in.
The backfield USC will have this season is green. Three backs will be new to the team, including decorated top-50 national recruit MarShawn Lloyd. The two returners, Kevin Harris and Deshaun Fenwick, have 64 combined career carries.
But a running game and its schemes are defined by the offensive line, and the Gamecocks have a lot to work with there. In spring, there appeared to be four solid tackles, with Dylan Wonnum and Jazston Turnetine seem to be the favorites to start. At guard, three-year starter Sadarius Hutcherson moves in from tackle, and both 2019 starters, Jovaughn Gwyn and Jordan Rhodes, also return. There’s a battle with several players at center, and Gwyn, one of the team’s strongest players, could factor in there as well.
This doesn’t mean a switch to pure power football in the mold of Bobo’s old Georgia teams, but it does mean some quirks and changes could be in the mix.
“We’re still playing with some tempo, still trying to dictate the tempo of the game offensively,” Muschamp said. “But there’ll be some drastically different run schemes that maybe, you know, South Carolina fans haven’t seen.”
