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*** What a difference a week can make.
The Gamecocks have gone from "what's going on?" to "what's next?" after thrashing Florida in what was far and away the team's best performance of the year.
Sure, Florida has made a mess of this season in many ways. The Gators carried plenty of issues into this contest, there were some questions about their motivation to be there, and the flu affected some players during the week (and possibly during the game, as Dan Mullen noted).
Despite that, there's no doubt that this performance represented a step in the right direction for this Gamecocks team. Why? Quite simply, South Carolina finally took advantage when the opportunity was presented. Even against teams that were struggling/teams that presented weaker competition (ECU, Troy, Vanderbilt), this Gamecocks team won those contests but struggled. Gifted several turnovers against Kentucky, Carolina couldn't take advantage. In this one, Carolina took full advantage. More than that, the Gamecocks took the fight to Florida and delivered haymaker after haymaker.
I'm not trying to diminish South Carolina's performance, either. It was impressive top to bottom, from start to finish. One could debate whether or not Florida was motivated coming into the game. One cannot debate that the Gamecocks basically made the Gators quit by the end of this one.
It was essentially a perfect storm for the Gamecocks. Schematically, it was by far the best gameplan put together on offense this season. The offensive line and tight ends turned in their best blocking performance. The backs looked the most comfortable and explosive they have all season. And - we'll detail his performance next - Jason Brown was excellent at quarterback.
The defense played well, and the special teams were solid once again. Parker White was nails, and the defense settled in and turned in a bunch of big plays in key situations.
*** Let's turn to the quarterback position. Coming into this game, we were extremely intrigued to get a first full look at The Jason Brown Experience.
This offense is demanding of the quarterback position, and Marcus Satterfield and Shane Beamer have made no mistake that they threw a lot at the quarterbacks from spring onward.
One thing that folks could glean accurately from the spring game - nobody saw any of the multitude of spring practices that this team had - was that Brown's physical traits, savvy, and moxie were certainly there. That didn't mean he was ready to step in and play as the starter early in the season. As has been documented, Brown needed to reshape his body, and needed to progress in terms of knowledge. There has indeed been a progression from then until now, and he's come a long way to where the comfort level is catching up with the physical tools.
Heading into the game, we noted throughout the week that Brown had a chance to give this offense a spark because of his ability to navigate the pocket, escaping trouble/buying time, and that he would push the ball down the field and give some receivers chances to make plays. In essence, those "gamer traits" that Shane Beamer's talked about with Brown in the past. Simply put, Brown can make plays that nobody else in the quarterback room can make. Look at his throw to Trae Kenion - he made some subtle movements and stepped up in the pocket to keep himself clean in order to deliver a strike. The touchdown pass to a wide-open Josh Vann, Florida sent a double blitz and ZaQuandre White picked up the inside guy. Brown stepped up and threw a touchdown on the run. On the bad snap for a designed run play, Brown improvised and ran it himself. There were other instances in which he showed a lot of poise and his knack.
The questions leading into Florida were: would Brown take care of the football and what could the offense do around him? Both of those boxes were checked against the Gators. Brown gave this team a huge spark, and he could really fill some of the gaps that have been missing this year.
*** Let's take a minute to shout out Trae Kenion. Wes Mitchell and I were really high on the North Carolina product out of the 2019 class based on what we saw on film and his summer camp performance. Yet, he really didn't do much of anything his first couple seasons as a Gamecock.
A fresh start has seemed to revitalize Kenion, who's shown a lot of passion on the field and has really come on lately. He's caught three balls (including his first career touchdown) in the last couple games and has really progressed as a blocker.
Kenion, according to PFF, was the Gamecocks' top-ranked run blocker on the entire team for the Florida game. He and
Jaheim Bell didn't play as much in this one - more of a matchup thing, really - but had a great individual effort on his touchdown catch in which he made a one-on-one play by making a defender miss.
*** Damani Staley, Cam Smith (great effort tackling, an impressive pick), Carolina's entire starting defensive line (plus Burch and Strachan), and the rest of the secondary after some earlier big plays were surrendered deserve plenty of credit too.
*** Carolina got all four of its top backs involved in the game, and all four did good things. Having Juju McDowell run the wildcat play down near the goal line was a smart move because of his ability to navigate traffic and his quickness.
Kevin Harris looked like last year's Kevin Harris. ZaQuandre White continued to give fantastic effort and displayed excellent vision.
Did you all notice that Marshawn Lloyd is now playing without his knee brace? This is his first game without it, and probably no coincidence that he looked the most explosive and comfortable that he has this season.
*** Carolina made some schematic tweaks on offense after the bye week that really paid dividends. To be clear, even plays that the Gamecock staff has been running (inside zone, duo run plays) were executed better on Saturday night.
However, more gap scheme runs like power and counter were introduced. The staff re-inserted Trai Jones as a fullback (I was wondering where that package had gone) and successfully ran power runs 7 times.
An outside zone wrinkle that put Nick Muse in motion and utilized him as a blocker on the edge resulted in ZaQuandre White's big run.
It was, without a doubt, the best game plan and the best-called game of the year, in my mind.
The execution also helped the Gamecocks along, whether it was blocking well, executing assignments, finding gaps for the backs, winning some one-on-ones, extending plays (Brown), and not committing penalties (just one for five yards this game).
The interesting thing? This team could have played better. All season long, we have talked about the offense being able to maximize what it has on the roster. That hasn't happened this year, but it did on Saturday. And that is potentially exciting if Carolina can build on it.
All of a sudden, the feeling is that if the Gamecocks can replicate that type of offensive production, that another win or more could be on the way to close out year one.
Post Up Careers can guide you through this process with their customized resume services. Get personalized coaching to up your game in the job market with Post Up Careers, a company whose mission is to help you navigate all aspects of your career: resume writing, interview preparation, LinkedIn optimization, and much more. Make your talents stand out with the help of a company owned by a lifelong Carolina fan and alumnus – visit PostUpCareers.com or email franklin@postupcareers.com today.
*** What a difference a week can make.
The Gamecocks have gone from "what's going on?" to "what's next?" after thrashing Florida in what was far and away the team's best performance of the year.
Sure, Florida has made a mess of this season in many ways. The Gators carried plenty of issues into this contest, there were some questions about their motivation to be there, and the flu affected some players during the week (and possibly during the game, as Dan Mullen noted).
Despite that, there's no doubt that this performance represented a step in the right direction for this Gamecocks team. Why? Quite simply, South Carolina finally took advantage when the opportunity was presented. Even against teams that were struggling/teams that presented weaker competition (ECU, Troy, Vanderbilt), this Gamecocks team won those contests but struggled. Gifted several turnovers against Kentucky, Carolina couldn't take advantage. In this one, Carolina took full advantage. More than that, the Gamecocks took the fight to Florida and delivered haymaker after haymaker.
I'm not trying to diminish South Carolina's performance, either. It was impressive top to bottom, from start to finish. One could debate whether or not Florida was motivated coming into the game. One cannot debate that the Gamecocks basically made the Gators quit by the end of this one.
It was essentially a perfect storm for the Gamecocks. Schematically, it was by far the best gameplan put together on offense this season. The offensive line and tight ends turned in their best blocking performance. The backs looked the most comfortable and explosive they have all season. And - we'll detail his performance next - Jason Brown was excellent at quarterback.
The defense played well, and the special teams were solid once again. Parker White was nails, and the defense settled in and turned in a bunch of big plays in key situations.
*** Let's turn to the quarterback position. Coming into this game, we were extremely intrigued to get a first full look at The Jason Brown Experience.
This offense is demanding of the quarterback position, and Marcus Satterfield and Shane Beamer have made no mistake that they threw a lot at the quarterbacks from spring onward.
One thing that folks could glean accurately from the spring game - nobody saw any of the multitude of spring practices that this team had - was that Brown's physical traits, savvy, and moxie were certainly there. That didn't mean he was ready to step in and play as the starter early in the season. As has been documented, Brown needed to reshape his body, and needed to progress in terms of knowledge. There has indeed been a progression from then until now, and he's come a long way to where the comfort level is catching up with the physical tools.
Heading into the game, we noted throughout the week that Brown had a chance to give this offense a spark because of his ability to navigate the pocket, escaping trouble/buying time, and that he would push the ball down the field and give some receivers chances to make plays. In essence, those "gamer traits" that Shane Beamer's talked about with Brown in the past. Simply put, Brown can make plays that nobody else in the quarterback room can make. Look at his throw to Trae Kenion - he made some subtle movements and stepped up in the pocket to keep himself clean in order to deliver a strike. The touchdown pass to a wide-open Josh Vann, Florida sent a double blitz and ZaQuandre White picked up the inside guy. Brown stepped up and threw a touchdown on the run. On the bad snap for a designed run play, Brown improvised and ran it himself. There were other instances in which he showed a lot of poise and his knack.
The questions leading into Florida were: would Brown take care of the football and what could the offense do around him? Both of those boxes were checked against the Gators. Brown gave this team a huge spark, and he could really fill some of the gaps that have been missing this year.
*** Let's take a minute to shout out Trae Kenion. Wes Mitchell and I were really high on the North Carolina product out of the 2019 class based on what we saw on film and his summer camp performance. Yet, he really didn't do much of anything his first couple seasons as a Gamecock.
A fresh start has seemed to revitalize Kenion, who's shown a lot of passion on the field and has really come on lately. He's caught three balls (including his first career touchdown) in the last couple games and has really progressed as a blocker.
Kenion, according to PFF, was the Gamecocks' top-ranked run blocker on the entire team for the Florida game. He and
Jaheim Bell didn't play as much in this one - more of a matchup thing, really - but had a great individual effort on his touchdown catch in which he made a one-on-one play by making a defender miss.
*** Damani Staley, Cam Smith (great effort tackling, an impressive pick), Carolina's entire starting defensive line (plus Burch and Strachan), and the rest of the secondary after some earlier big plays were surrendered deserve plenty of credit too.
*** Carolina got all four of its top backs involved in the game, and all four did good things. Having Juju McDowell run the wildcat play down near the goal line was a smart move because of his ability to navigate traffic and his quickness.
Kevin Harris looked like last year's Kevin Harris. ZaQuandre White continued to give fantastic effort and displayed excellent vision.
Did you all notice that Marshawn Lloyd is now playing without his knee brace? This is his first game without it, and probably no coincidence that he looked the most explosive and comfortable that he has this season.
*** Carolina made some schematic tweaks on offense after the bye week that really paid dividends. To be clear, even plays that the Gamecock staff has been running (inside zone, duo run plays) were executed better on Saturday night.
However, more gap scheme runs like power and counter were introduced. The staff re-inserted Trai Jones as a fullback (I was wondering where that package had gone) and successfully ran power runs 7 times.
An outside zone wrinkle that put Nick Muse in motion and utilized him as a blocker on the edge resulted in ZaQuandre White's big run.
It was, without a doubt, the best game plan and the best-called game of the year, in my mind.
The execution also helped the Gamecocks along, whether it was blocking well, executing assignments, finding gaps for the backs, winning some one-on-ones, extending plays (Brown), and not committing penalties (just one for five yards this game).
The interesting thing? This team could have played better. All season long, we have talked about the offense being able to maximize what it has on the roster. That hasn't happened this year, but it did on Saturday. And that is potentially exciting if Carolina can build on it.
All of a sudden, the feeling is that if the Gamecocks can replicate that type of offensive production, that another win or more could be on the way to close out year one.
