Tale of the Tape: South Carolina opens playbook, can’t control Kyler Murray

During the week leading up to South Carolina’s trip to Texas A&M, interim head coach Shawn Elliott promised a team playing as if it had nothing to lose. At least in terms of going deep in the playbook, his squad delivered.

The Gamecocks showed more diversity in the running game, getting quarterback Perry Orth involved more and throwing out small adjustments and counters. The passing game made progress moving the pocket and finding receivers matched with linebackers or backs in space.

The reverse to wide receiver Pharoh Cooper helped lead to a 34-yard scoring run from Brandon Wilds, who ran the same motion but kept the ball instead of handing to Cooper.

The straight sweep run, almost a liability a few weeks ago, averaged a healthy 8.4 yards per carry. The team even deployed a play that resembled a triple option (with Cooper wheeling around as a pitch man), though it was unclear how much of the play was a true option and how much was dressing to occupy edge defenders.

That the team would use Orth like that highlighted a trend. He ran for 92 yards discounting sacks, more than twice his season total. He got to run a range of zone read plays and speed options, often drawing enough attention to hold unblocked defenders, and both of his draw plays came together very effectively.

One produced the 66-yard run that was likely the most surprising play of the game. He ducked through a crease against a six-man box, headed to the left sideline. He got good downfield blocks from his center and tailback Brandon Wilds, and freshman wide receiver D.J. Neal was marvelous walling off the cornerback. What made the play was Aggies safety Armani Watts, racing to one side of the field (either flowing with receivers or thinking he had a deep half) and Orth facing no last-line defender until Watts could get back over.

That said, Orth missed an underneath defender on his game-ending pick, and Donovan Wilson swung the contest by undercutting a slant to take an interception for a touchdown. The concept was the double-slant that produced long Cooper scores against LSU and Vanderbilt, but Wilson slipped off his man to jump the route (pass protection also caused some problems).

What measure of progress one might see there was limited by a bevy of talent A&M boasts up front and in the defensive backfield. The Gamecocks broke out a range of tricks to try to schematically neutralize A&M star defensive ends Myles Garrett and Daeshon Hall.

More than a few runs read those linemen and optioned them off in one way or another. Screens and moving the pocket also helped on that front, forcing backside ends to chase and getting extra chips on the frontside (Brandon Wilds had a particularly nasty chip on one second-quarter rollout). Even with that, the duo was still active – 11 tackles, three for loss, two sacks – a reminder they’re talented enough to break an offense’s best-laid plans.

Murray’s day

Even with an offensive spark, it wasn’t going to matter if the Gamecock defense couldn’t make the Aggies’ Kyler Murray look like a first-time starting quarterback. Instead, he looked like the much ballyhooed electric prospect he is.

That came in no small part from the way the Texas A&M staff schemed around him, building in plays with a range of options but what appeared to be simpler reads. With Murray in play, A&M could stress the defense all over, hitting it where defenders weren’t.

The freshman’s 156 rushing yards included big plays on zone reads, draws, scrambles and the occasional pure option. The coaches made little tweaks such as slipping out a tight end to lead on zone read plays and take out support defenders. When the Gamecocks widened defenders out of the box to cut off screens, Murray often ran draws with a numbers edge on five-man boxes (USC coordinator Jon Hoke said his group had trouble making calls when A&M motioned into empty sets).

The Aggies even picked on USC’s best pressure look that lined up two linebackers in the A-gaps. On seeing that, Murray and his back were sent on a speed option to the edge, an ideal counter.

Everything A&M did seemed to flow off him. His speed could hold unblocked linemen, opening up lanes for backs. Keeping the box loaded for him opened up screens, and aggression against those opened up slants for blockers (usually big, athletic receivers to boot).

The Gamecocks played their part with fit issues, tackling woes, not closing down screens properly and slanting into zone blocking, which opened cutback lanes and got linebackers caught up in the muck. But the physical mismatches made those all the more costly.

Start the presses

Fans who spent all season raging about cornerbacks playing off coverage got their wish. The Gamecocks tightened things up.

South Carolina had a cornerback playing up on at least one receiver on 84 percent or the defensive snaps that were charted, give or take 68 percent with more than just one pressed (many of the off plays came in long down-and-distance or late in the first half). This isn’t to say the receiver was always jammed or redirected, but there wasn’t the cushion for an easy slant or hitch.

And yet the Gamecocks still allowed a problematic 6.6 yards per carry and eight per play before halftime.

The problem is that there is no magic bullet fix. A well-run zone scheme can be just as effective as a pressing man approach if it’s taught well, sound and bolstered by good talent. One tweak won’t fix all that.

The Gamecocks did take a few steps in the second half, letting up only 4.6 yards per play and allowing only one drive go longer than 35 yards. Linebacker Skai Moore said the team simplified, going to two base calls, plus some blitz looks. That’s good and bad against a hurry-up team, as those offenses thrive on confusion but also count on getting more stripped-down looks.

Those calls appeared to be a Cover-2 zone look and a Cover-1 with more man underneath.

Numbers to note

USC run success by direction (in yards per carry)

Edge: 9.1

Off-tackle: 3.6

Between tackles: 6.3

A&M success off screens: Plays-Yards

Edge screens: 4-37

Slants by screen blockers: 3-52

Note

Redshirt freshman tight end K.C. Crosby got his first action on offense in College Station, though it only amounted to a handful of plays. Shawn Elliott said he probably wasn’t quite big enough to play on the line, so he lined up as a mobile fullback a few times, usually as a blocker from the pistol. He did slip into the flat on a waggle play inside South Carolina’s 20, but Orth opted to try to fit a ball over defenders to Cooper and had it tipped and dropped.

This story was originally published November 2, 2015 at 12:05 PM with the headline "Tale of the Tape: South Carolina opens playbook, can’t control Kyler Murray."