W
Wes Mitchell
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A few more takeaways from South Carolina's win over Kentucky after watching the replay...
** The most obvious changes in the game on the offensive side of the ball were a renewed dedication to the running game, more two-tight end sets with Kyle Markway and Nick Muse on the field at the same time, and less of a reliance on RPOs.
I mentioned prior to the game that the game plan could somewhat resemble the one South Carolina used against Tennessee last year when they ran the ball 41 times and while it wasn't the exact same schematically, there were a lot of similarities.
Against Kentucky, South Carolina used its pin-and-pull blocking scheme quite a bit (watch the video below for an example - watch how the tight end Muse (9) "pins" the outside defender in and then the two guards pull out to try and create new gaps for the defense to defend) along with a combination of some straight-handoff inside zones (with motions), plus a handful of counters, zone-reads, draws and RPOs.
All of these plays have been staples of the South Carolina rushing attack under Bryan McClendon, so it wasn't that it was necessarily "new" but there was a renewed interest in sticking to the running game and in forcing runs as opposed to letting RPO reads dictate whether it was a run or a pass.
** I thought South Carolina's offensive line was solid in the running game and not necessarily dominant, but both Rico Dowdle and Tavien Feaster were difference-makers in taking advantage of the space they had to operate. In the SEC, it's rare that an offensive line ever just straight dominates its opponent up front, especially against a talented defensive front, which I think Kentucky is, but in today's game if the offensive line can just even create a stalemate and not allow penetration then that allows good backs to go to work. South Carolina has missed that type of production from its backs for the last few years, but they're getting it now from both Dowdle and Feaster. Both backs ran hard through contact, had good vision to daylight, and, to me, set the tone for the entire offense. I'm not sure you could have asked for more from those two and they'll need to be a huge part of the game plan moving forward for South Carolina.
** South Carolina could have been a bit more efficient on offense as it easily could have been a four or five-score blowout, but the game was already well in hand in the second half and there was no need to really put the ball in danger as the game wore on and sticking to the run was probably the right call. The Gamecocks relied heavily on the short passing game and it worked for the most part. Kentucky dropped back into zone coverage for most of the game, leaving the underneath flats open as Carolina did a good job of attacking those with various perimeter screens and then blocking them up on the edges to let their receivers make yards after the catch. The Gamecocks seemed content with throwing the ball short of the sticks, even on third downs, and letting their receivers make plays with the ball. The combination of defensive scheme, dedication to the running game, and flow of the game, led to a lack of downfield shots, but Kentucky wasn't able to make Carolina pay for that.
** Moving forward, the biggest positive is that South Carolina proved against a pretty solid front that it can run the football, even when a defense is scheming to take that away. That means they can potentially still have success on the ground with an extra defender in the box and don't necessarily have to feel like they always have to throw against a single-high safety look and only run when both safeties are deep.
From a big picture standpoint, this offense will take off when it can combine all of the elements that we've seen in glimpses throughout the last few weeks. Just because the offense was so RPO-reliant at times, doesn't mean those plays aren't helpful. They make excellent early-game and early-drive calls and Carolina has gotten a lot of big plays off those in the last couple of years. Also, against better defenses, they'll have to prove that they can threaten vertically and in the intermediate seams to force defenses to cover the entire field. The four verticals concept produced more of Carolina's explosive pass plays last season than any other play and we haven't seen that hit near as much this season.
In a perfect world, Carolina can continue to use its RPOs early in the game (especially while still feeling out the defense) but also continue to be hardheaded in the run when it wants to be and mix in the deeper throws too. If they can put all of these things together, then you could actually see this offense take off during the second half of the season.
** Defensively, the biggest change for South Carolina was a shift to playing way more 4-3 as opposed to its usual 4-2-5 base, which I'd say they're usually in for 70 percent or more of a typical game.
Usually, Will Muschamp will match personnel for personnel. ie. if the offense has two receivers on the field, Carolina is in the 4-3 so that the two cornerbacks can match up with the two receivers, if the offense has three WRs, then USC is in a 4-2-5, etc. But against Kentucky, South Carolina chose to leave its SAM linebacker (Sherrod Greene and later Jahmar Brown) on the field, even against spread formations.
Greene has been one of the defense's surprise players this season and had another strong game against the Wildcats as his presence added another bigger body and solid tackler to the box against the run and Kentucky proved they couldn't consistently hurt Carolina in the passing game.
Jammie Robinson shifted over and played more safety than he has at any other point in his Carolina career and was in on several passing plays where he had good coverage. Robinson's ability in man-to-man coverage and his versatility actually helps make the move to the 4-3 work since he's the one who will often end up matched up with the slot receiver anyway, just like he would have if Carolina was in a nickel look against a three-receiver set.
There will certainly be some offense that will have the playmakers to force Carolina back into a nickel look, but I still think we'll see more 4-3 than we would have for the rest of the year. If Carolina didn't have safeties like Robinson and R.J. Roderick who play nickel too anyway, then the move might not pay off as much, but their ability in coverage actually gives me reason to believe this could be something Carolina continues as opposed to just being a one-off against a team that struggles to throw. Also, it's only a matter of time before Robinson gets his first career interception, because he's become remarkably close to it already.
** Kentucky quarterback Sawyer Smith had an awful day, but at least part of that has to be credited to the Carolina defensive line that harassed him all day. D.J. Wonnum had a career-best three sacks, but it was a complete team effort up front as the entire group won their battles throughout the game and was able to ramp up the pressure in passing situations.
OTHER RANDOM NOTES I NOTICED:
** On Kentucky's fourth down right after Carolina's turnover on the punt, the Wildcats tried to use a pick play to free up their tight end against man coverage, but T.J. Brunson worked through the "rub" and was able to get their to stop him short of the sticks before his teammates arrived to clean up the play. Brunson also did a great job of sniffing out the tight end on UK's double reverse flea-flicker attempt. He's looked improved in coverage this season.
** With both Randrecous Davis and Dakereon Joyner out (both backup slot receivers), Josh Vann slid into that role against Kentucky after playing primarily on the outside so far this season.
** We haven't seen it much at all this year, but there was at least one play against Kentucky where Dowdle and Feaster were on the field at the same time. Feaster started out lined up outside and then motioned through the backfield. I have to imagine we'll see some more off of that idea in the future.
** Ryan Hilinski does a phenomenal job of throwing the ball while rolling to his left. Not many quarterbacks his age can throw the ball against their body with the zip and accuracy that Ryan does, but he threw two dimes doing just that for intermediate gains.
** The offensive line was solid in the running game, but will still need to clean up some of the pass protection issues moving forward - especially if they want to be able to attack the field vertically as I suggested above.
** Not a bad start for Jaylen Nichols who not only made his first career start but got his first real playing time (the other was in mop up duty vs. CSU). It's something for him to build off.
** Take out Kentucky's last drive in garbage time (and add back the lost yardage for sacks) and Carolina held Kentucky to 74 rushing yards on 20 carries for a 3.7 yards per carry average.
** Take out South Carolina's sack yardage and the Gamecocks rushed for 250 yards on 40 carries for a 6.25 yards per carry average.
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