USC defense does its job, leads the way to season-opening victory

He said they’d be more energetic. He said they’d be more physical.

After one game of the Will Muschamp era, he’s right – South Carolina’s defense might lack in star power, but not in fundamental priniciples.

The Gamecocks knew Vanderbilt would try to pound away with Ralph Webb and Khari Blasingame, and they played disciplined, stay-in-your-gap football. Webb was getting stonewalled on most of his attempts, and USC’s front seven kept the Gamecocks in the game.

Their only problem was they ran out of gas, hardly their fault the way Vanderbilt dominated time of possession in the first quarter. But they still had enough to take the game in the end.

“They were heavy in run personnel,” linebacker T.J. Holloman said. “We knew we had to stack the box. We knew they weren’t going to pass out of that.”

The Commodores gained 242 yards, 169 on the ground, but Webb wasn’t gashing them until late in the game. Blasingame had some big runs, but USC wouldn’t break.

Considering the last two years of defense that often looked out-of-place and couldn’t tackle when it was in place, it was sweet relief. Holloman said USC works on tackling every day, even the kickers participating, and the results showed.

Chaz Elder and Qua Lewis tied for the team lead with seven stops each, but the difference from the last two years was evident. Over those years, it was usually Skai Moore leading and the defensive backs recording the high numbers because of plans of leaving the middle of the field open.

Now, it’s the front seven doing its job and not letting the opponent get to the middle.

“A lot of teams say we can’t stop the run,” Bryson Allen-Williams said. “We tried to go out there and punch them in the mouth each play.”

The Gamecocks were given a boost from the early physical play and once they got their break, they took advantage of it. While they had just one sack, it was at a key time – as Kyle Shurmur frantically tried to get Vanderbilt downfield after Elliott Fry’s go-ahead field goal.

It’s far from a finished product, but it was a great start.

Considering how the last two years have been defensively, it was the best start USC could have.

This story was originally published September 2, 2016 at 1:23 AM with the headline "USC defense does its job, leads the way to season-opening victory."