Can South Carolina OC Mike Shula fix the Gamecocks offense?
The most-criticized man in Columbia stood behind a podium on Wednesday, failing to provide the exact baking instructions for turning the lump of dough that is South Carolina’s offense into, well, something appetizing.
There was little South Carolina offensive coordinator Mike Shula could have said Wednesday to appease a fan base that just watched the Gamecocks score only 7 points in a blowout loss to Vanderbilt. But Shula, who is often vague in press conferences, gave little insight into how he and the offensive staff specifically plan on fixing this USC offense.
“I think offensively, we’ve done some good things,” Shula said. “And we haven’t done some good things.”
This is an offense that’s scored just five touchdowns in three games. That’s totaled the fewest yards (303 per game) of any SEC team. That has the worst rushing offense in the conference. That has perhaps the most-athletic quarterback in school history looking average.
How is this possible? How could a South Carolina team that brought back QB LaNorris Sellers, that hired the in-house candidate (Shula) to be OC, that has basically two 25-year-old running backs, that spent the last nine months raving about its freshmen wide receivers look like this? So mundane. So boring. So ineffective.
What’s even more concerning is this: Of the Gamecocks’ five offensive touchdowns this year, three have been scripted. That’s the phrase for when an offensive coordinator can basically script — either leading up to the game or at halftime — what plays to run to start a game or a half.
South Carolina scored touchdowns on its first offensive drives against Virginia Tech and Vanderbilt. It received the second-half kickoff against SC State and scored a touchdown, too.
So how can that not translate?
How can the Gamecocks’ offense seemingly only find the end zone if the plays have been rehearsed or, at least, been thought out in advance? Where are the adjustments?
“Well, I mean, those are all things that, again, you look at during the course of the game,” Shula said. “You look at going into a game. You look at after a game.
“Yeah, you want every drive to go 80 yards for a touchdown,” he continued. “You want every play to go score a touchdown. But, you know, the teams we’re playing are pretty good.”
Compare that answer to the words of head coach Shane Beamer, who was asked Tuesday about how he balances patience with the need for immediate change.
“I mean, we only get 12 of these guaranteed,” Beamer said. “So there’s not a lot of patience that you have when things aren’t going well, to just say, ‘Well, hopefully by November we kick it into gear.’”
That seems to indicate that South Carolina’s offense is going to look different on Saturday night against Missouri. It looks more likely that Sellers, who left the Vandy game with a concussion, will play, meaning the Gamecocks will be close to full strength on offense.
Now the question becomes: What changes is Shula gonna make?
One cannot install an entirely new playbook in a week. Could you shrink the playbook? Maybe. Could you add some eye candy (motions, shifts, etc.) to what you currently have? Perhaps. Could you just tell Sellers to turn into Superman and run 20 times? Why not.
It seems like everything is on the table for this Missouri game. And without any details or hints, we must wait for a few drives on Saturday to decide: Does this look any different?
