W
Wes Mitchell
Guest
-- There seems to be plenty of attention from fans given every year to the distance from the line of scrimmage that South Carolina's cornerbacks play, and co-defensive coordinator Jon Hoke was asked about his preference regarding that following Tuesday's practice. It's important to remember -- as Hoke referenced when he was asked the question -- that the cornerback's distance from the line of scrimmage is entirely dependent on his responsibilities in a given play call.
As we've said many times, Hoke is going to run more zone coverage than we're used to the Gamecocks using in recent seasons, and often times it may look like a defender is lining up with a large cushion from his "man" when really the defender is just making sure he can get to his spot.
For example, in cover 3 zone, the cornerbacks traditionally have the deep third of the field to their side which means a large cushion so that the defender can make sure he's not beat deep. Generally the spur or outside linebacker has the curl/flat area that the cornerback is vacating by getting deep.
If South Carolina's is in man press coverage, that's when you'll see them actually get up on the line and try to jam a receiver. In cover 2 zone, Hoke has his cornerback line up around five yards off the line and generally they'll look to re-route the receiver inside in order to try and help take away the natural hole between the cornerback and safety in that coverage.
Those are just a few examples, but teams all over the country mix up their coverages and play "off" the line of scrimmage.
-- I can't recall ever hearing about South Carolina piping in crowd noise in practice in the past, but the Gamecocks were doing just that on Tuesday. Steve Spurrier had mentioned before that Hoke wanted to do some of that so that his defense could get used to communicating with a raucous crowd.
It makes sense for them to do that this week, since it's the first home game of the year. We often think of the home crowd affecting the opposing team's offense, but the home team's defense has to be ready to communicate in that atmosphere as well. Again, with Hoke, it's all about attention to detail.
-- Freshman linebacker Sherrod Pittman is scheduled to redshirt according to linebackers coach Kirk Botkin. Pittman was scheduled to travel to Charlotte last week, but didn't end up doing so. Freshman linebacker Jalen Henry is someone that the staff will get ready and could help on special teams, but it sounds like he could still potentially redshirt as well.
As we've said many times, Hoke is going to run more zone coverage than we're used to the Gamecocks using in recent seasons, and often times it may look like a defender is lining up with a large cushion from his "man" when really the defender is just making sure he can get to his spot.
For example, in cover 3 zone, the cornerbacks traditionally have the deep third of the field to their side which means a large cushion so that the defender can make sure he's not beat deep. Generally the spur or outside linebacker has the curl/flat area that the cornerback is vacating by getting deep.
If South Carolina's is in man press coverage, that's when you'll see them actually get up on the line and try to jam a receiver. In cover 2 zone, Hoke has his cornerback line up around five yards off the line and generally they'll look to re-route the receiver inside in order to try and help take away the natural hole between the cornerback and safety in that coverage.
Those are just a few examples, but teams all over the country mix up their coverages and play "off" the line of scrimmage.
-- I can't recall ever hearing about South Carolina piping in crowd noise in practice in the past, but the Gamecocks were doing just that on Tuesday. Steve Spurrier had mentioned before that Hoke wanted to do some of that so that his defense could get used to communicating with a raucous crowd.
It makes sense for them to do that this week, since it's the first home game of the year. We often think of the home crowd affecting the opposing team's offense, but the home team's defense has to be ready to communicate in that atmosphere as well. Again, with Hoke, it's all about attention to detail.
-- Freshman linebacker Sherrod Pittman is scheduled to redshirt according to linebackers coach Kirk Botkin. Pittman was scheduled to travel to Charlotte last week, but didn't end up doing so. Freshman linebacker Jalen Henry is someone that the staff will get ready and could help on special teams, but it sounds like he could still potentially redshirt as well.
