W
Will Helms
Guest
— As South Carolina drove down the field quickly on its first drive, I remarked aloud that I’d be interested to see how the rest of the day went because the Gamecocks typically come out strong. With that (and the opponent) in mind, it was still hard not to be impressed by the Gamecock offense on the first drive.
A 9-play, 70-yard drive during which the longest play was a 12-yard run, South Carolina used five runs and four completed passes to take a quick 7-0 lead.
— As mentioned above, under Bryan McClendon, South Carolina has typically been strong on opening drives. A Nick muse fumble was sandwiched in between two Charleston Southern three-and-outs, the Ryan Hilinski really went to work. Hilinski started the drive with four straight completions for 37 yards before Rico Dowdle added a 35-yard run. Hilinski isn’t the most fleet of foot, but he can be effective in the red zone, taking it in from 4 yards out.
— Hilinski impressed me. It wasn’t as if he just dinked and dunked all day, as he averaged nearly 10 yards an attempt in the first half. He hit a perfect deep post to Bryan Edwards and threw some nice intermediate routes as well. Most of all, Hilinski had several completions to his second, third and even fourth reads. McClendon did well to keep the gameplan simple, but Hilinski made some impressive throws as well.
— As I mentioned it might earlier this week, the RPO game looked much better Saturday. The first touchdown pass from Hilinski to Edwards was an RPO that Hilinski pulled back and threw right on the money. I counted at least two more long receptions on RPO passes and several successful runs from the concept. Hilinski, who ran an RPO system in high school, seemed comfortable all game.
— Defensively, South Carolina’s first team was excellent against an inferior opponent. Outside of a 44-yard run, the Gamecocks allowed just 41 yards on 28 plays in the first half. The usual suspects played well, with Israel Mukuamu and Jaycee Horn looking good in coverage and Javon Kinlaw constantly disrupting Charleston Southern’s gameplan.
— Dakereon Joyner is electric with the ball in his hands, so it was nice to see him get into the game for a drive early. He entered the game and immediately had a shifty 41-yard run, capping the drive with a 7-yard zone read touchdown run. He has the potential to be a 10-15 touch a game Swiss Army knife for the Gamecock offense. I think at some point he’ll need to show the ability to hit a receiver or two to really be a dangerous change-of-pace option at quarterback this season. He continues to impress me at receiver. His route tree is getting more diverse already and I really think he’ll be a serious contributor this year.
— Other young players that impressed me were true freshmen Kevin Harris and Jahmar Brown. Harris is lower on the depth chart, stuck behind three seniors, but he’s a tough back that also flashed some serious speed. He may not play a lot this season, but he’s probably the front-runner to start at running back next season. He had Brown is a guy that will definitely avoid a redshirt this year. He played last week and is a candidate to crack the starting lineup sooner rather than later.
— After last week’s debacle, it was pretty easy to tell that the coaching staff wanted to be aggressive, even with a freshman at quarterback. The Gamecocks went for it on fourth down twice — both times in its own territory — and never punted. The offense put up a school-record 775 yards, including 493 rushing yards, which honestly is just ridiculous.
— Yes, it was Charleston Southern, but the Gamecocks have to feel more confident this week heading into a brutal matchup with Alabama. This team probably doesn’t have much of a chance to beat the Crimson Tide, but this team looks completely different from last week’s team.
— Lastly, the throwback uniforms are awesome.Just saying.
A 9-play, 70-yard drive during which the longest play was a 12-yard run, South Carolina used five runs and four completed passes to take a quick 7-0 lead.
— As mentioned above, under Bryan McClendon, South Carolina has typically been strong on opening drives. A Nick muse fumble was sandwiched in between two Charleston Southern three-and-outs, the Ryan Hilinski really went to work. Hilinski started the drive with four straight completions for 37 yards before Rico Dowdle added a 35-yard run. Hilinski isn’t the most fleet of foot, but he can be effective in the red zone, taking it in from 4 yards out.
— Hilinski impressed me. It wasn’t as if he just dinked and dunked all day, as he averaged nearly 10 yards an attempt in the first half. He hit a perfect deep post to Bryan Edwards and threw some nice intermediate routes as well. Most of all, Hilinski had several completions to his second, third and even fourth reads. McClendon did well to keep the gameplan simple, but Hilinski made some impressive throws as well.
— As I mentioned it might earlier this week, the RPO game looked much better Saturday. The first touchdown pass from Hilinski to Edwards was an RPO that Hilinski pulled back and threw right on the money. I counted at least two more long receptions on RPO passes and several successful runs from the concept. Hilinski, who ran an RPO system in high school, seemed comfortable all game.
— Defensively, South Carolina’s first team was excellent against an inferior opponent. Outside of a 44-yard run, the Gamecocks allowed just 41 yards on 28 plays in the first half. The usual suspects played well, with Israel Mukuamu and Jaycee Horn looking good in coverage and Javon Kinlaw constantly disrupting Charleston Southern’s gameplan.
— Dakereon Joyner is electric with the ball in his hands, so it was nice to see him get into the game for a drive early. He entered the game and immediately had a shifty 41-yard run, capping the drive with a 7-yard zone read touchdown run. He has the potential to be a 10-15 touch a game Swiss Army knife for the Gamecock offense. I think at some point he’ll need to show the ability to hit a receiver or two to really be a dangerous change-of-pace option at quarterback this season. He continues to impress me at receiver. His route tree is getting more diverse already and I really think he’ll be a serious contributor this year.
— Other young players that impressed me were true freshmen Kevin Harris and Jahmar Brown. Harris is lower on the depth chart, stuck behind three seniors, but he’s a tough back that also flashed some serious speed. He may not play a lot this season, but he’s probably the front-runner to start at running back next season. He had Brown is a guy that will definitely avoid a redshirt this year. He played last week and is a candidate to crack the starting lineup sooner rather than later.
— After last week’s debacle, it was pretty easy to tell that the coaching staff wanted to be aggressive, even with a freshman at quarterback. The Gamecocks went for it on fourth down twice — both times in its own territory — and never punted. The offense put up a school-record 775 yards, including 493 rushing yards, which honestly is just ridiculous.
— Yes, it was Charleston Southern, but the Gamecocks have to feel more confident this week heading into a brutal matchup with Alabama. This team probably doesn’t have much of a chance to beat the Crimson Tide, but this team looks completely different from last week’s team.
— Lastly, the throwback uniforms are awesome.Just saying.
