The season is at a crossroads. The offense is down (which was expected to some degree). The defense hasn't shown enough improvement from last year. The only bright spot we have is our special teams. So the question is WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE? Sitting in last place of the SEC 0-2, with the meat of the schedule remaining, how do we get to a .500 season? I have a few thoughts:
Defense
1) I believe D-line is doing a better job than it did last year, they are maintaining their gaps better. More pressure is being put on the QBs to make the plays, which leads to number 2.
2) Our CBs are the weakest point on our defense. I have seen nothing from Al Harris Jr., that warrants him being on the field. They are getting beat on slants and quick drops time after time. (Think back to the Kentucky game, how many times they put a man in motion, and throwing it to the flats or even hitting a guy on a three step slant... Each time they would get at least six to eight yards. I understand Tampa 2 gives up short passes and keeps the play in front of you, however, we don't have the talent on the field to attack after the catch is made or to step in and make a play on the ball. I would rather take my chances with a Safety giving coverage over the top and having our CBs play press coverage, than to get dinked and dunked all the way down the field.
3) Tackling is still a problem. How many times did we have Chubb and Co. wrapped up for a minimal gain, only to allow another five or six yards? The tackling techniques are not corresponding from the practice field to the game...
4) Our Defense is looking to blame someone for their mistakes. Look back to the fourth quarter, when the ref called a timeout to keep our guys from fighting EACH OTHER. Everyone is blaming the guy next to them... It was almost as embarrassing as when Botkin and Adams fought each other in Athens two years ago. I wish our guys showed that amount of fight towards their opponents instead of each other.
Offense
1) As many have said before, recruiting/development/execution have put us behind the eight ball on the offense.
2) Stop changing the play on every down, I understand that you might see something from time to time, but if you call a play, RUN it. Don't change it to where we are scrambling to get the snap off every time we have the ball.
3) Orth did a fair/good job managing the game as best as he could for it being his first start in one of the hardest environments to play in SEC. With that being said, LORENZO NUNEZ better not come off the field if we want to score any type of points this year.
4)Nunez lead us on both TD drives. He kept the defense honest with his legs and ability to make plays on the run. He appears to have pretty good arm strength. The pass he hit to I believe Carlton for fifteen yards was a bullett. I know he will make mistakes, that is expected, but with him in the game, we at least have speed in the backfield. SOS is going to have to change his play calling to more of the Spread Option... This week against UCF is a perfect time to get him more game reps.
5) What happened to the dump off passes to the RB and TE that we would hit several times a game to get the chains moving? It at least kept the LB at home and prevented the heavy blitzes.
6) Use a more hurry up offense. This goes back to a previous point, but other teams are able to keep our bigs on the field and wear them down by doing this, why aren't we doing the same thing. The sweep plays and swing passes wear out a line faster than anything else. How many of those have we ran this year? I can think of only one or two. (Carson's TD run against UNC).
OVERALL:
Coaches need to earn their money. We have $4,000,000 INVESTED in our head coach. That should get you a better product on the field. I am thankful for all SOS has done to pull the program up from the bottom of the SEC, but we are quickly sliding back down that way if we aren't careful. We have $1.5 million invested in Co-Def. coordinators. Can we not figure out how to stop a freaking Slant pass or draw? Then that leaves our positional coaches. Coach the guys up! Develop them. Clowney, Shaw, Lattimore, Alshon, Bruce, DJ, Ace,etc.. covered up a lot of holes in our team by their sheer talent. If our coaches can't coach any better, then changes need to be made.
Recruit better. I saw a post by another guy on here the other day and it was great. He said if we want to be better than a Conference USA team, then we need to stop recruiting Conference USA talent. I looked this morning at the recruiting rankings and noticed we are still going after low three stars and two stars. IMHO, if you are trying to go that route, you are better off investing in a JUCO player. JUCOs shouldn't be a permanent fix, but a temporary solution until recruiting gets better.
I will be a Gamecock until the day that I die. I will continue to support them. I just don't want them to slip back to where we started before Spurrier. 7-5,6-6 isn't okay.
Defense
1) I believe D-line is doing a better job than it did last year, they are maintaining their gaps better. More pressure is being put on the QBs to make the plays, which leads to number 2.
2) Our CBs are the weakest point on our defense. I have seen nothing from Al Harris Jr., that warrants him being on the field. They are getting beat on slants and quick drops time after time. (Think back to the Kentucky game, how many times they put a man in motion, and throwing it to the flats or even hitting a guy on a three step slant... Each time they would get at least six to eight yards. I understand Tampa 2 gives up short passes and keeps the play in front of you, however, we don't have the talent on the field to attack after the catch is made or to step in and make a play on the ball. I would rather take my chances with a Safety giving coverage over the top and having our CBs play press coverage, than to get dinked and dunked all the way down the field.
3) Tackling is still a problem. How many times did we have Chubb and Co. wrapped up for a minimal gain, only to allow another five or six yards? The tackling techniques are not corresponding from the practice field to the game...
4) Our Defense is looking to blame someone for their mistakes. Look back to the fourth quarter, when the ref called a timeout to keep our guys from fighting EACH OTHER. Everyone is blaming the guy next to them... It was almost as embarrassing as when Botkin and Adams fought each other in Athens two years ago. I wish our guys showed that amount of fight towards their opponents instead of each other.
Offense
1) As many have said before, recruiting/development/execution have put us behind the eight ball on the offense.
2) Stop changing the play on every down, I understand that you might see something from time to time, but if you call a play, RUN it. Don't change it to where we are scrambling to get the snap off every time we have the ball.
3) Orth did a fair/good job managing the game as best as he could for it being his first start in one of the hardest environments to play in SEC. With that being said, LORENZO NUNEZ better not come off the field if we want to score any type of points this year.
4)Nunez lead us on both TD drives. He kept the defense honest with his legs and ability to make plays on the run. He appears to have pretty good arm strength. The pass he hit to I believe Carlton for fifteen yards was a bullett. I know he will make mistakes, that is expected, but with him in the game, we at least have speed in the backfield. SOS is going to have to change his play calling to more of the Spread Option... This week against UCF is a perfect time to get him more game reps.
5) What happened to the dump off passes to the RB and TE that we would hit several times a game to get the chains moving? It at least kept the LB at home and prevented the heavy blitzes.
6) Use a more hurry up offense. This goes back to a previous point, but other teams are able to keep our bigs on the field and wear them down by doing this, why aren't we doing the same thing. The sweep plays and swing passes wear out a line faster than anything else. How many of those have we ran this year? I can think of only one or two. (Carson's TD run against UNC).
OVERALL:
Coaches need to earn their money. We have $4,000,000 INVESTED in our head coach. That should get you a better product on the field. I am thankful for all SOS has done to pull the program up from the bottom of the SEC, but we are quickly sliding back down that way if we aren't careful. We have $1.5 million invested in Co-Def. coordinators. Can we not figure out how to stop a freaking Slant pass or draw? Then that leaves our positional coaches. Coach the guys up! Develop them. Clowney, Shaw, Lattimore, Alshon, Bruce, DJ, Ace,etc.. covered up a lot of holes in our team by their sheer talent. If our coaches can't coach any better, then changes need to be made.
Recruit better. I saw a post by another guy on here the other day and it was great. He said if we want to be better than a Conference USA team, then we need to stop recruiting Conference USA talent. I looked this morning at the recruiting rankings and noticed we are still going after low three stars and two stars. IMHO, if you are trying to go that route, you are better off investing in a JUCO player. JUCOs shouldn't be a permanent fix, but a temporary solution until recruiting gets better.
I will be a Gamecock until the day that I die. I will continue to support them. I just don't want them to slip back to where we started before Spurrier. 7-5,6-6 isn't okay.
