Published Sep 8, 2021
Breaking down Gamecock football's offensive formations
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Chris Clark  •  GamecockScoop
GamecockCentral.com football/recruiting insider
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@GCChrisClark

Gamecock football fans had a first look at offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield's scheme and plays during Saturday night's season opening win over Eastern Illinois.

In this feature, GamecockCentral.com takes our readers deeper by offering an inside look at formations and personnel utilization throughout the game. Among other storylines, we dive deeper into Satterfield's unique usage of the tight end.

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The Gamecock staff debuted a two-back set in game one, and there were a couple of instances of a formation that utilized Juju McDowell and another tailback. In the below example, McDowell is set to the left of quarterback Zeb Noland, and he eventually goes goes into motion and out for a pass.


With South Carolina's emphasis on the tight end position, it was anticipated that Satterfield would feature a bunch of multi-tight end sets. Indeed, there were 23 plays called on Saturday night that included two tight ends on the field at the same time.

Below is an example of a five-wide formation that included a pair of tight ends - Nick Muse and Jaheim Bell - out wide.

Below, we see Muse and Bell offset behind the line of scrimmage in a "wing" or h-back type positioning.

Here's another favored set from Satterfield, with one tight end on the line of scrimmage on the left and another offset on the opposite side.

The below screenshot shows a four-wide look, with three of those players being wideouts and the other being Jaheim Bell, who was featured in a variety of ways in this game. Bell lined up on the line, offset, at fullback, and in the slot. Satterfield handed him the ball directly from that fullback look, ran him on a variety of pass patterns, and also used him on jet sweep concepts.

Below is a look at a tight formation that features the tight end lined up in the slot.

Below is Bell lined up directly behind the quarterback in an I-formation, fullback positioning.

And another with Bell lined up as a fullback - this is carry that Bell took to the end zone that was called back due to a hold.

Here's Bell lined up as a receiver again:

It was also anticipated that we could also see the advent of a formation utilizing three tight ends. That came to pass three different times. Below is a look at a couple examples, with the tight ends situated in a "bunch" on the bottom right. Both of these screenshots also show "tight" formations, which were favored by offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield in the game.

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