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While the media has been able to see snippets of a few South Carolina preseason practices, there’s a lot we have not been able to see. That said, we’ve done some digging to unearth some more team notes to pass along our subscribers…
In speaking with several sources that have observed practice sessions, the first words out of everyone’s mouth have related to South Carolina’s offense.
There is some optimism there amongst the folks we’ve spoken with, and there are several reasons behind it. Not surprisingly, the tempo has been mentioned as a contributing factor. USC won’t always go warp speed on offense, but there will definitely be times in which the offense plays fast and the team is definitely practicing that way.
Dan Werner’s addition has been touted to us, because a lot of the concepts he used with great success at Ole Miss will carry over to what USC calls on game day. While Bryan McClendon is in charge of the offense, Werner is a great veteran sounding board and the other offensive staff members (Eric Wolford, Bobby Bentley, and Pat Washington) have plenty of experience in a variety of backgrounds to try to put together sound game plans. USC is playing faster and simpler and the feeling is that the offense has had more productivity in practice, which should carry over to game situations. Certainly, USC has the weapons at the skill positions to be productive, and that group of wideouts has looked good in preseason.
USC definitely had some injuries that contributed to the lack of production last season (losing Deebo Samuel and having the offensive line banged up), but the tempo was not what Will Muschamp wanted and the feeling was that USC had to put its players in a better position to succeed. The returns on that front have been positive to where everyone I’ve spoken with would be surprised if USC was not significantly more productive on offense this season due to instituting some needed changes.
One source I spoke with noted that South Carolina “looks like an SEC team now” whereas that was certainly not the case in Muschamp’s era-opening spring practices in Columbia.
That same source also noted that the depth along the defensive line was a possible concern. Javon Kinlaw is a special talent who will have a very good chance at an early NFL jump and there are good young players who will contribute, but still some youth there. The staff will need some second year and first year players to make a jump and develop throughout the season, and USC needs to stay healthy. Lance Thompson spoke about the need to find some more guys that the staff can trust on the interior during his media session on Tuesday.
A few players that have been noted as practice standouts…
Ty’Son Williams was singled out to me as having had a good preseason camp thus far. You’ll recall we’ve said before there were times last season in which he looked like the best guy in practice, but it did not always carry over to game situations. Williams did show in-game flashes; the key will be for him to be more consistent when the lights are on.
A couple of young cornerbacks also caught the eye of one observer I spoke with in Jaycee Horn and Israel Mukuamu. USC quarterback Jake Bentley recently singled out Horn, a summer enrollee, for the summer he had. I was told by more than one person this preseason that Horn has a chance to be a special player. Israel Mukuamu was also mentioned to me as having been impressive with his length.
Not surprisingly, junior BUCK DJ Wonnum was also touted to me as having been the model of consistency during camp. You know exactly what you’re getting with him each practice and each game.
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