Freshman could get chance vs Florida, and what needs to happen to get Joyner the ball
The South Carolina football team put a lot of its passing game on wide receiver Shi Smith in the season opener against Tennessee, throwing 14 of 39 passes his way. He put up 10 catches, 140 yards.
But all week there were questions about if other options might emerge.
On Thursday, Gamecocks coach Will Muschamp was on Carolina Calls and mentioned a few players who could become alternative playmakers in different ways: freshman tight end Eric Shaw and wide receiver Dakereon Joyner. Shaw didn’t play against Tennessee in the opener, while Joyner was lightly targeted.
But that situation with Shaw could change with this week’s trip to No. 3 Florida.
“Eric Shaw is a guy that could maybe get some opportunities this week,” Muschamp said. “He’s gonna travel with us, and we’re gonna see what he can do.”
The coach also mentioned former wide receiver Keveon Mullins as a player who could add some pop at the tight end spot (he’s one of the faster players USC has). Mullins played a few snaps against the Vols, and the team could use more playmaking around Nick Muse.
Shaw is still skinny around the 220 range, but he’s a good athlete with a bit of toughness. He was an impact defender in addition to being a playmaker on offense at a small school.
Joyner is one of the more shifty players on the team, but he wasn’t able to shake loose much. He played more than half of the Tennessee game, but didn’t have too much impact and was only targeted once.
When asked about it, Muschamp pointed out the team isn’t necessarily forcing the ball into the hands of one playmaker or another.
“There’s route progression that the quarterback goes through,” Muschamp said. “And if a guy’s not open, you can’t throw it to him. We need to do a better job at that position of getting open and creating separation. We’re gonna face man coverage or pattern match coverage or whatever you want to call it every single week.”
Muschamp also said the staff needs to get freshman quarterback/wide receiver Luke Doty in more after a Game 1 DNP.
A ‘mistake’ to correct
The Gamecocks broke out a slightly different look on a key third down, running Smith on a jet sweep out of an unusual formation needing to get a yard in the late going. Smith seemed to get the corner but went out and was ruled short.
Muschamp said the Vols defended the play differently than the staff expected. He also called it a mistake to not run it on the inside instead of going with the sweep.
This story was originally published October 1, 2020 at 7:54 PM.
