The highest priority fixes Will Muschamp wants for Gamecocks football during off week
Halfway done for South Carolina football, and there’s work to do.
The Gamecocks are five games into this COVID-altered season. Will Muschamp’s squad is 2-3, so not as bad as it could’ve been. But it also dropped a tossup against Tennessee and watched the defense meltdown at LSU.
So what has to be fixed first with a week off? Well, that should be obvious.
“I think overall improvement on the defensive side of the ball,” USC coach Will Muschamp said. “I think early on, we gave up more explosive passes than we should have. That was extremely disappointing and then I think the run defense the last couple weeks has not been what we need to be. So we’ve got improve on both levels as far as our run defense is concerned and our pass defense is concerned.”
The Gamecocks are sitting at 66th out of 101 teams in yards per pass attempt allowed. They’re 59th in yard per carry.
Those struggles are a bit of a surprise, as the secondary was supposed to be solid (Jaycee Horn has been very good). The defensive line is loaded with blue-chip talent, but across the past three games, that group for the most part hasn’t played to that level.
On the other side of the ball, there’s some things to clean up on the offensive line and at quarterback, but that hasn’t been the main aim.
“We need somebody else to emerge,” Muschamp said. “Jalen Brooks, get some other guys involved offensively, to give us more opportunities to move the ball down the field. We’re coming off a game that we need to finish some drives, but we averaged 8 yards a play. That’s pretty explosive offensively. So we’ve got to continue to find more guys offensively that they can put us in positions to score. And those are the two things.”
He pointed out the quartet of wide receiver Shi Smith, tight end Nick Muse and running backs Kevin Harris and Deshaun Fenwick have basically carried the Gamecocks from a playmaking standpoint.
USC is still middle of the pack in terms of yards per play nationally, but was surviving in part because of good red-zone play. Against LSU, the big plays finally came, but the efficiency fell off badly. That’s through a stretch where the offensive line was not consistent and the receiver play was not consistent.
Muschamp also confirmed a change he plans to make on special teams.
“Parker (White) probably will end up kicking off as we continue to move forward,” Muschamp said. “We just need to be more consistent there as far as the placement of the ball. The depth, direction has been an issue.”
The Gamecocks will return to action Nov. 7 against a Texas A&M team that is currently in the top 10.
