USC self-scouted during its bye week. Gamecocks’ adjustments to be tested vs. Florida
South Carolina’s in an offensive rut.
This isn’t some deep-rooted state secret. Shane Beamer knows it. Offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield knows it. Just about anyone who has watched the Gamecocks play football this fall knows it.
How South Carolina adjusts from its recent offensive woes over the final four games, though, will directly affect whether Beamer and his staff guide USC to a bowl game in their first fall in Columbia.
Coming out of the bye week, USC’s first-year head coach offered an assessment of the offense, personnel groups and touched on where the Gamecocks have to improve to reach the postseason.
“We’ve got to be more efficient. We’ve talked to our guys a lot about just competing and making competitive plays,” Beamer said. “We’ve got to stay on the field. We’ve got to protect the quarterback. We’ve got to run the football. We can’t have bad snaps over the quarterback’s head. We can’t have snaps that hit the guy going in motion.”
Entering Saturday’s game against Florida, South Carolina ranks 11th in passing, 12th in rushing and 13th in scoring offense in the Southeastern Conference. But over the bye week, Beamer and his compatriots turned internally to address their problems through self-scouting.
Beamer noted Tuesday a team can’t completely go away from its core philosophies. You have to toe the line between simplifying so the offense can understand concepts, but you can’t be so simple that your system is predictable.
You can, however, still take a fresh look at things. Beamer pointed to having defensive backs graduate assistant Donnie Both scout South Carolina’s receivers like he would Florida’s to point out tendencies or things that might give away plays.
South Carolina’s first-year coach also noted the Gamecocks could stand to get tight end/wide receiver E.J. Jenkins more involved in the offense. Jenkins has been limited in part because he technically plays the same receiver position as leading receiver Josh Vann.
That said, Beamer launched into a two-and-a-half-minute diatribe on the similarities of South Carolina’s receiver positions. In short, they aren’t that dissimilar and USC needs to find a way to get a body like Jenkins (6-foot-7, 243 pounds) into its offense.
“The simple answer is Josh and E.J. are playing the same position and you want Josh in there as much as possible, but you want E.J. in there as much as well,” Beamer explained. “And then before anybody says, ‘Well, why don’t you just be multiple and get E.J. on the field and have him play something else?’ That’s a great point. We need to do that. And E.J. has continued to improve in practice and has put himself in position to be able to get out there more and more.”
To South Carolina’s credit, when the scheme hasn’t been there, the team has shown a competitive spirit.
USC stuck in games against Georgia and Texas A&M despite lopsided scores and found the end zone late. South Carolina also pulled within striking distance of Tennessee after a wayward first half in which the Gamecocks allowed almost 400 yards.
That competitiveness has since permeated onto the practice fields at the Long Family Football Operations Center. South Carolina hasn’t so much changed its practice plan as it has shifted into the nature Beamer and his staff want out of the squad.
“We’ve tried to do more in practice with competitive drills, first defense vs. first offense. Put the ball down and let’s go,” Beamer said of practice tweaks. “We’ve had a little more of practice in that last week. The players loved it. We did more of that today and will continue to as well.”
Beamer noted that a handful of players asked that the Gamecocks practice extra during their off week.
Standout edge rusher Kingsley “JJ” Enagbare also prodded Beamer to allow for another practice session after the offense made a few plays on the defense in recent days.
“I don’t come into our team meeting on Tuesday mornings at 8 a.m. and have to come out with some Knute Rockne motivational speech to get them to go practice hard,” Beamer quipped. “... They’re having fun out there and you can’t ask any more as a coach than that. We’ve got got to play better and we’ve got to coach better.”
Though the energy level may be closing in on Beamer’s standards, improved offensive line play would go a long way in helping South Carolina to a bowl game. So too would finding a way to spring what’s been a largely stagnant running game.
The Gamecocks currently sit 10th in the SEC in run blocking and dead last in pass blocking, according to Pro Football Focus. Twice South Carolina has received a pass-blocking grade below 20 on PFF’s 100-point scale. No other team in the conference has a single game that low.
The running game has come on in spurts. ZaQuandre White has been a welcome piece to an equation that has lacked a lead back with Kevin Harris’ struggles and inconsistent health. But the Gamecocks also have only eclipsed the 100-yard rushing mark as a team twice this season against FBS competition.
“I just (have to) do my job,” White said Tuesday when asked how he personally could help avoid the negative plays that have hurt South Carolina all season. “Make sure (to) fight for extra yardage when I do get the ball and make sure I’m always going forward.”
Opportunities remain in front of South Carolina. Florida has had its share of struggles, while head coach Dan Mullen has been under increased scrutiny of late. Missouri is allowing almost 400 yards per game and Clemson’s offense has as many issues as South Carolina’s. Auburn is perhaps the most lauded of USC’s final four opponents, but the Gamecocks won last year’s meeting.
South Carolina isn’t throwing the complete script out offensively. But in a week that might be one of the Gamecocks’ best chances at a win the rest of the year, USC is trying to adjust.
“None of us have been good enough through eight games,” Beamer said. “... Nobody is happy with where we are. We’ve all got to be better offensively.”
