‘People just bounce off of him’: USC defense prepares for Arkansas’ KJ Jefferson
SEC play is underway for the Gamecocks, and they’ll start by facing a unique and talented dual-threat quarterback for No. 16 Arkansas.
South Carolina will face KJ Jefferson, a 6-foot-3, 242-pound signal caller who led the team in rushing as the team finished 9-4 last season. Jefferson on Saturday threw for 223 yards and three touchdowns, adding 62 rushing yards and a touchdown on the ground in the team’s opening win over Cincinnati.
In preparation, the team will have to account for both Jefferson’s speed and his frame.
“People just bounce off of him back there,” head coach Shane Beamer said.
His game, Beamer and Gamecock defenders said, isn’t easy for the scout team to copy in practice.
Linebacker Brad Johnson said that the team is using “big cylinder dummies” during drills as one method of game planning and to work on tackling.
“It’s kind of hard to mimic that because I don’t think we have a QB on our roster that’s even close to that size right now,” Johnson said.
Added Beamer: “We’d have to take one of our defensive ends and make him a quarterback.”
If USC did just that, they might look to 6-foot-4, 250-pound edge rusher Terrell Dawkins, or Jordan Strachan at 6-5, 245 pounds. Or, from the offense, 6-foot-3 Nate Adkins is the heaviest tight end at 252 pounds. Do-it-all tight end Jaheim Bell is also 6-3 but 10 pounds lighter than Jefferson.
Of the quarterbacks, Braden Davis is the tallest at 6-foot-5 but is listed at 205 pounds, and the 6-foot-4 Jalen Daniels is the heaviest QB at 215 pounds.
Arkansas’ starting running back Raheim Sanders also bolsters the attack. He picked up 117 yards against the Bearcats on Saturday. With Sanders and Jefferson, the team likes to design run-pass options for the two.
“You got KJ who can run, he can pass, too, so he’s good on both sides,” linebacker Mo Kaba said. “And you got a running back that’s good, has good balance, good power, good speed.”
What makes the Razorbacks running attack so effective, to Beamer, are the formations the team can employ, which he attributed to good coaching.
Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman, who coached with Beamer as assistants at Georgia, has spent years as an offensive line coach.
The perimeter blocking of the wide receivers, combined with the way the offensive line blocks, creates the gaps for Arkansas’ running backs to utilize. This helped give the Razorbacks control in its home opener.
“You can’t see any of the Cincinnati defensive linemen on tape because they’re covered up by double teams,” Beamer said.
Arkansas also likes to play fast, Beamer said, which can aid South Carolina in practice this week.
The USC defense plays against a high-speed offense in practice, and that tempo was on display at times against Georgia State. South Carolina’s quarterback, Spencer Rattler, also has some mobility to him.
Though he’s not as big as Jefferson, Rattler can extend plays with his legs. He’s not a perfect comp for Jefferson, but his ability to help in the run game aids the Gamecock defense in preparing for Arkansas.
“We face that every day in practice,” Kaba said. “So we’re just going to game plan against it and we’re gonna get ready for them.”
Arkansas brings a heightened complexity in their run scheme compared with GSU due to the size of its linemen and the formations they use, whether it’s giving Jefferson an empty backfield or motioning players around before snapping the ball.
“You’ve got to be disciplined with your eyes against these guys,” Beamer said.
The Razorbacks led the SEC in rushing yards last season with 227.8 yards per game. South Carolina struggled defending ball carriers in 2021, as they had the fourth-lowest rush yardage defense in the league.
South Carolina kept Georgia State running backs at bay for the majority of Saturday, though they ultimately allowed 200 yards on the ground.
USC also didn’t record a sack on Georgia State’s Darren Grainger on Saturday but did record six quarterback hurries. Bringing pressure on its first SEC opponent is something the team will need to help get another win under its belt.
This story was originally published September 6, 2022 at 4:47 PM.
