Shawn Elliott takes larger role with South Carolina defense

As his defense struggled early against Tennessee, Shawn Elliott got an itch.

On his weekly call-in show, South Carolina’s interim coach said he flipped into the defensive conversation on the headset and started making suggestions. He told co-defensive coordinator Jon Hoke to let it ride a little more.

“I kept kind of fueling him to take chances,” Elliott said Thursday on his weekly call-in show. “I was like, ‘listen, let’s make something happen here.’ There was a situation where we had a particular, I think it was a third-down call. I just looked at him, I said, ‘roll the dice. Let’s play zero (coverage). What have we got to lose?’ He smiled and said, ‘I’ve never called that this far out.’ I said, ‘Get it done, let’s roll.’ ”

Elliott told Hoke to tell him if he was out of place. Hoke said, as a head coach, he never was.

On the injury front, Elliott said cornerback Al Harris will be available after hurting his shoulder, but Hoke said Chris Lammons will start in Harris’ place across from Rico McWilliams.

“Al’s not a big guy anyway, so those tough tackles are going to be hard on him,” Elliott said. “(Defensive tackle) Taylor (Stallworth), he’ll be out once again this week.”

Linebacker Skai Moore missed a practice during the week, but he’ll go. Wide receiver D.J. Neal won’t be on the travel roster because of a hip injury, but Elliott expects him back next week. Defensive tackle Dante Sawyer is also good to go.

Familiar feeling

With Steve Spurrier’s legacy, South Carolina’s staff has more than a few links to the Gators. Hoke’s certainly one of them. He was defensive coordinator at Florida in 1999 and was an assistant head coach for two more seasons.

“I had a great three years there,” Hoke said. “I was around a bunch of great coaches and a lot of great players that I’m still in contact with. I have very fond memories of Florida so it’s going to be different going against them.”

Speeding the start

The Gamecocks have had to rally from sluggish starts all season. The defense has usually improved, but the team has often had to dig out of a hole.

Hoke wasn’t sure how to fix the problem. He even jokingly polled some reporters if they had any thoughts.

“Starting fast would be a great thing,” Hoke said. “And if I could figure out it out, ideas? It’s been that way a little bit all year. You talk about the Kentucky game, we started fast because we got the interception. But that was the only time.”

On Florida

The Gators’ offense is built on running the same base concepts out of a range of different looks. Hoke said his players can’t get caught up in those different formations.

“They do a great job with their personnel, where they locate them, where the put them,” Hoke said. “It can be, if you let it, it becomes a distraction. You’ve got to try to minimize that.”

He pointed out young wide receiver Antonio Callaway is a big-play option in an offense that likes to mix thinks up but does rely on the run.

Injury report

Players who were injured or wore yellow jerseys were: Wide receiver D.J. Neal (hip), DT Dante Sawyer (shoulder), DT Taylor Stallworth (chest), WR Deebo Samuel (hamstring), WR Javon Charleston (right foot), CB Al Harris (shoulder), SS Antoine Wilder (leg), TE Connor Redmond (back), QB Gage Pucci (knee) and C Cody Waldrop (ankle).

This story was originally published November 12, 2015 at 6:24 PM.