Gamecocks need offensive line to pave the way
The South Carolina football team will take the field Thursday, and soon enough, it will become clear if the hype and praise were warranted.
Coaches have promised South Carolina’s offensive line will be good in 2016. Will Muschamp called it the most experienced unit at the start of camp and said each lineman had a good preseason. Defensive line coach Lance Thompson, whose unit goes against that front every day in practice, called them a “real deal offensive line.”
That said, the Gamecocks’ front is also coming off what can mostly be considered a middling to down year. The pass protection numbers were nothing special. The rushing numbers were mostly poor, especially in terms of keeping defenders out of the backfield and short yardage.
So what can the front be? That starts with what it has.
“Having 34 starts back on our offensive line, a position that’s been recruited well and developed well, that’s part of this game,” Muschamp said at the start of camp. “That’s the best developed position on our football team. We’ve kept a lot of the verbiage the same for them, to be able to have the continuity moving forward.”
That helps with an offense low on proven playmakers behind center, in the backfield and at any of the pass-catching spots. It is a unit with turnover.
The Gamecocks lost their three most experienced linemen in tackle Brandon Shell and the guard duo of Will Sport and Mike Matulis. They even had some shifting in camp with projected guard Cory Helms taking most of the work at No. 1 center in place of Alan Knott, who spent time at guard when a hand injury prevented him from snapping the ball.
“I think the transition by itself is great,” sophomore guard Zack Bailey said. “Obviously we lost some talent, but we’re gaining some talent. How much work we put in in the offseason, we’re gaining so much. I don’t think there’s going to be any disparity.”
Bailey had been a No. 1 guard along with Donell Stanley, though Knott stepped in when an injury sidelined Bailey. That group is flanked by Mason Zandi to the left and D.J. Park on the right.
They’ll have the edge of running some similar plays under the steady hand that coached the line as long as any of the current players have been there. With Shawn Elliott being the only assistant retained from 2015, it means the group had a little bit of a head start.
“Coming into spring, I had no idea what was going on,” said Park, who moved past Blake Camper to get first-team reps. “Luckily coach Elliott stayed, but all new coaches, all new staff, so I just had to be ready for anything to happen. Coming in with this new offensive line, like any other year, you’ve got to go and get it done together.”
That’s not to say things will stay 100 percent the same. The arrival of Kurt Roper brings gap blocking, basically pulling guards or tight ends and sealing edge defenders to open up off-tackle runs. Those were more change-ups than staples in the old offense.
And the guards enjoy the chance to get on the move and pop defenders inside.
“Perfect for me,” Helms said.
The changes can’t hurt as South Carolina’s line was lacking in a number of metrics. The 26 sacks allowed were worse than the national average. Just more than one-third of the Gamecocks’ carries went five or more yards (89th nationally). Nearly one-fourth, 23.5 percent, went for zero or fewer yards (111th in the country). They converted 52.4 percent of short-yardage runs, worse than all but five teams nationally.
That’s what the Gamecocks front has to reverse. Suddenly there’s more on the group, and they’ll have to lead as the veteran unit (despite having only one player who will leave at year’s end).
It’s similar to what its incoming starters have been asked to do though their time on campus.
“It’s what you’re asked to do here,” Zandi said. “If you get a year to grow, then you take that to heart and grow that year. Once they call your number, it’s time to roll.”
This story was originally published August 31, 2016 at 12:03 PM with the headline "Gamecocks need offensive line to pave the way."