T.J. Holloman, USC defense wanted Vandy RB to ‘Eat his words’

The question was simple: Did South Carolina’s defense have any benchmarks for limiting Vanderbilt tailback Ralph Webb?

Senior linebacker T.J. Holloman, as mild-mannered a public speaker as the Gamecocks have, took a slightly different route.

“Basically, we just wanted him to eat his words,” Holloman said.

Webb had said at SEC Media Days that he expected Commodores (0-1, 0-1 SEC) to win every game, which started against USC.

“We wanted to make sure that didn’t happen,” Holloman said.

They sure didn’t, and they brought a level of defensive competence rarely seen in the past two seasons. Webb did manage 97 yards, but he needed 20 carries to do it. The defense loaded the box and Vandy’s attack threw bodies and power at the Gamecocks (1-0, 1-0).

Many of the yards Webb got came late when the Gamecocks’ defense was worn, but they made him earn all of it.

“We kind of took it personally,” Bryson Allen-Williams said.

Starting slow

Coach Will Muschamp shrugged off the idea they came from jitters. His starting quarterback, Perry Orth, wondered the same.

In either case, the Gamecocks started slowly, and reviewing it, Muschamp honed in on three key plays that were notably egregious.

On the opening kickoff, running back A.J. Turner got confused, didn’t listen to a teammate, stepped partially out of the end zone, then tried to go back. The ultimate play was a touchback, as rules are heavily in the returner’s favor, but the start was inauspicious.

A few plays later, offensive tackle D.J. Park leaked way too far downfield on a passing play, putting the Gamecocks behind the chains. Muschamp said it was a base play, one of the first the team installed in camp.

After South Carolina’s first defensive stop, Deebo Samuel fumbled the punt, ultimately leading to the field goal that opened the scoring.

“It didn’t go well early,” Muschamp said. “And I’ll be as honest as I can be. One of the things I told our staff, I said ‘I’m really worried if it doesn’t go well early. How will we respond? I have no idea.’ And they responded the way you respond.”

Super Sub

Muschamp sent some praise the way of offensive tackle Blake Camper, who was forced into action when guard Donell Stanley got hurt. Right tackle D.J. Park slid down to guard and Camper stepped in.

Camper came into spring ball as the No. 1 right tackle, but Park overtook him.

Missing

Lorenzo Nunez’s transition from quarterback to wide receiver got a lot of press in the offseason, but he wasn’t in the house Thursday.

The dynamic sophomore, who made several starts in 2015, was not on the dress roster. Another quasi-notable absence was punter/kicker Joseph Charlton.

The Gamecocks did bring five quarterbacks, including walk-on Danny Gordon and Michael Scarnecchia, who Muschamp said was out for the season.

Youth movement

Outside quarterback Brandon McIlwain getting his share of reps behind center, several others got their first taste of college action.

Wide receiver Bryan Edwards caught the first two passes of his career before halftime, and defensive linemen D.J. Wonnum, Kobe Smith and Keir Thomas all played on a couple key third downs.

Richland Northeast product T.J. Brunson also saw the field.

Switch

Antoine Wilder wore No. 21. He was No. 29 on the roster before the game. Daniel Fennell switched from No. 30 to No. 35.

Home field

USC’s fan presence was noted. There were an estimated 7,000-plus fans who made the trip.

We are family

USC play-by- play broadcaster Todd Ellis was in familiar territory. His son, Graham Ellis, is a sophomore neuroscience major at Vanderbilt.

Ellis’ other two children, senior Logan and sophomore Blake, Graham’s twin, are USC students. Logan’s following her father’s path and majoring in broadcast journalism while Blake is in the USC Honors College.

Captains

USC’s four game captains were Perry Orth, T.J. Holloman, Taylor Stallworth and Cory Helms. Muschamp said Wednesday that USC will continue what it’s recently done – game captains for half the season, then the team will vote on permanent captains.

In the house

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey was on hand to watch Thursday’s game.

This story was originally published September 2, 2016 at 1:22 AM with the headline "T.J. Holloman, USC defense wanted Vandy RB to ‘Eat his words’."