Hoke wants USC defense to start faster

South Carolina turned in a second straight impressive second half defensive performance, but it wasn’t good enough Saturday night in a 26-22 loss to Kentucky at Williams-Brice Stadium.

The Gamecocks recorded a defensive shutout in the second half for the second consecutive week but that wasn’t any solace as the Wildcats broke a 22-game road losing streak.

“We need to play harder. I thought (Kentucky) played harder,” South Carolina co-defensive coordinator Jon Hoke said. “The first series, we get an interception and we didn’t play as hard (after that). We didn’t fit the run like we were supposed to and that was disappointing. We played it better in the second half.”

Things started out well for the defense. Skai Moore intercepted a Patrick Towles pass and returned it 14 yards to the one-yard line to set up the Gamecocks lone first-half touchdown down. It was Moore’s third interception of the season and gives him 10 in his career.

But things took a turn for the worse after that. Kentucky scored on the final four possessions of the first half – three touchdowns and a field goal.

South Carolina’s defense looked like it was playing on skates. Even when the Gamecocks loaded the box with eight defenders, Kentucky found a way to gash them. Running backs Jojo Kemp and Boom Williams found holes for large chunks of yardage or Towles and the receivers ran a simple slant pattern for big gains.

The Wildcats had 307 yards and 15 first downs at the half.

South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier said the Gamecocks were telegraphing the type of defense they were running.

“Obviously in the first half we weren’t disguising worth a flip,” Spurrier said. “We said here’s our coverage, man-to-man or cover two. I suggested and (Hoke) agreed we had to disguise. I don’t care what you play, you have to disguise it. We did a much better job and the defensive line played much better in the second half.”

On the first five second half drives, Kentucky went three-and-out on four of them. They gained their first first down with just over eight minutes remaining in the game. The only Kentucky points came when Pharoh Cooper fumbled a two-point conversion try and Dezil Ware scooped up the loose ball and rumbled 98 yards, which was good for two points.

“I’m proud of the way the defense played in the second half,” Spurrier said. “I don’t think they made a first down until late in the game. I wish we could have gotten one more stop to see what might have happened. It didn’t work out that way.”

The defense needed that one final stop to give the offense a chance after Perry Orth threw an interception with 4:32 remaining. But that’s when the Wildcats had their most impressive drive of the half. They recorded three first downs and ran out the remaining time on the clock.

The Wildcats had 92 yards in the second half and half of them came on that final drive. Tackling became an issue like it was in the first half.

“I’m very frustrated with it, as I’m sure (the players) were,” Hoke said of the tackling. “It was much better in the second half until that last drive. Too many arm tackles and not playing with enough leverage.”

It was a valiant effort for a defense that looked gassed, confused and outmanned in the first half. But Hoke has to find a way to get the same effort in the first half as he’s gotten in the second half the first two games of the season.

“We have to start faster,” Hoke said. “We had the fast start with a take away early but we didn’t do much after that. We’re giving up big plays, critical plays at the wrong time.”

This story was originally published September 13, 2015 at 12:46 AM with the headline "Hoke wants USC defense to start faster."