South Carolina’s defense dominated Eastern Illinois. What does it mean going forward?
South Carolina defensive coordinator Clayton White needed to set the record straight.
Standing at the podium in front of the team meeting room in the Long Family Football Operations Center three weeks ago, White felt the need to address safety Jahmar Brown’s claim that “no one will figure this defense out.”
“First of all, what Jahmar said is ridiculous,” White said through a laugh. “He’s out here putting a target on my back.”
Joking and target painting aside, White’s defense sure looked unsolvable during South Carolina’s 46-0 romp over Eastern Illinois Saturday at Williams-Brice Stadium.
“Kudos to our defense pitching a shutout in Game 1,” head coach Shane Beamer said after the game.
Throughout fall camp, White preached forcing turnovers. The mantra made sense as South Carolina hasn’t finished better than fifth in the Southeastern Conference in turnover margin since 2017.
Yet there’s no real way simulate forcing turnovers. Some of it’s timing. Some of it’s waiting for the offense to make a mistake. Other times it’s simply being in the right place at the right time.
Saturday, South Carolina was in the right spot at the right time a whole heck of a lot.
Jaylan Foster, a one-time walk-on who started his career at Gardner-Webb, started South Carolina’s rip-roaring evening with an interception of Easter Illinois quarterback Chris Katrenick on the Panthers’ first play of the game.
Foster seemingly added a second interception of Katrenick on the first snap of the second half that, at first glance, was returned for a touchdown. Instead, South Carolina was flagged for lining up offsides and it was called back.
“The whole summer we heard a doubt from the outside,” Foster said of USC’s secondary. “... Those guys were great out there. I couldn’t have made the plays I made without them. We played great as a unit. Man, it feels great.”
Former five-star recruit Jordan Burch sent the garnet and black crowd into a tizzy when he capped South Carolina’s slaughtering with a 63-yard interception return for a touchdown.
Burch, who played his high school ball for South Carolina tight ends coach Erik Kimrey at Hammond School, quipped afterward that he might need to ask his former head coach if he can find some time on the offensive side of the ball after turning on the afterburners for his pick-six.
“I’ve been thinking about that play tonight like all week,” Burch conceded. “Like I (needed) to get me a pick.”
For a defense that had been maligned throughout the offseason for inexperience and pieces that fit together like a grocery bag over a punched-in car window, the Gamecocks looked inspiring — albeit against a middle of the road FCS opponent.
Eastern Illinois mustered just 41 yards in the first half and 109 overall. The Panthers finished the night averaging only 1.9 yards per rush after recording 158 yards on the ground against Indiana State last week.
South Carolina quarterback Zeb Noland even threw more touchdown passes (4) than EIU had third down conversions (0-for-9).
In a game that South Carolina ought to have dominated in the trenches, the Gamecocks’ defensive line did just that. Defensive ends Zacch Pickens and Aaron Sterling each recorded half a sack. The group also combined for 15 of South Carolina’s 40 tackles on the night.
“I feel like our team was pretty confident tonight going into this season opener,” Burch said. “...The other team not scoring on us was something that we kind of figured could happen if we played like we were supposed to.”
Saturday, for all intents and purposes, was a glorified scrimmage in the grand scheme of the 2021 season. South Carolina took on — and dominated — an Eastern Illinois team that hasn’t won more than three games since 2017.
South Carolina’s defense may not go the entire season without getting figured out as Brown proclaimed a few weeks back, but White and the Gamecocks passed their first test Saturday with flying colors.
“We’re going to enjoy the hell out of this win tonight and let our players have a great time,” Beamer said. “We’ll come in (Sunday), correct and we know we’ve got a big challenge next week in Greenville and can’t wait to get busy on that.”
Next game
Who: South Carolina (1-0) at East Carolina (0-1)
When: Noon Saturday, Sept. 11
Where: at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium in Greenville, NC
TV: ESPN2
This story was originally published September 5, 2021 at 12:01 PM.
