Call In Show: Muschamp eyes major contribution from Moody at safety

Six months ago, Chris Moody was. . .somewhere.

We knew where he wasn’t - hanging out with the South Carolina football team in Columbia. After four years with the Gamecocks, Moody elected to take some time away from football, even contemplating moving to another school as a graduate transfer.

Midway through spring practice, Moody decided to return to the Gamecocks.

Will Muschamp is glad he did.

Because of a lack of depth in the secondary, Chaz Elder’s rib injury has thrown the safety position into flux. Moody moved to SAM linebacker a few weeks ago, but has now returned to his former position with Elder sidelined. He could have a major role Saturday when the Gamecocks face East Carolina (4 p.m., SEC Network) as Muschamp looks to improve the secondary, which was spotty in the Mississippi State loss (27-14).

Moody has three tackles in the first two games, including one solo at Mississippi State. Last season, he was a special teams regular and saw occasional action at safety. His best season came in 2014 when he notched 37 tackles and one interception.

“Chris is very bright and very intelligent,” Muschamp said Thursday night on his weekly call-in show. “He was considering not playing anymore last spring. I’m glad he came back. We need him to play well.”

The secondary’s poor performance at Mississippi State has Muschamp contemplating personnel changes throughout the third level of the defense.

“We’re going to make some changes in the secondary,” Muschamp said. “Obviously, that was not to our standard. We don’t have a lot of room for different guys. Certainly, we have to get better production from that position.

“We’re very thin in the secondary. We’ll rotate a bunch of guys back there that will have opportunities. Steven Montac, D.J. Smith, Jasper Sasser (are three guys). We have a different combination of guys and at the end of the day we’ll play the guys that are playing well.”

Elder will miss Saturday’s East Carolina game and probably next weekend’s road contest at Kentucky as well, Muschamp said.

“He has an issue with his ribs,” Muschamp said. “That’s disappointing. Chaz has been a guy we’ve really leaned on in the secondary.”

In addition to Elder, offensive linemen Donell Stanley and Blake Camper are both sidelined with high ankle sprain and probably out until after the bye week on Oct. 15.

“Blake Camper did a nice job for us in the Vanderbilt game and then got rolled up on (at Mississippi State),” Muschamp said. “We hope to get him back after the open week.”

Muschamp hopes the Gamecocks respond the right way after last Saturday night’s disappointing performance in a 13-pointloss at Mississippi State. Actually, they have little choice with undefeated East Carolina coming to Columbia.

“We’d better respond the right way because East Carolina has a very good football team,” Muschamp said. “They are very talented on the offensive side of the ball. They have very good skill position guys. They are 2-0 for a reason. They have scored a lot of points (85 in two games) and play an up-tempo style. Defensively, they are very athletic. They play an odd structure with a three-down look. We have our work cut out.”

NOTES

-- As expected, Muschamp did not name a starting quarterback for Saturday’s home opener against East Carolina. He said naming a starter between Perry Orth and Brandon McIlwain will be a game time decision. He added both signal callers should get an opportunity to play.

-- Muschamp said McIlwain “will really study himself on the things he needs to improve on and I’m really excited for his future here.”

-- Muschamp said tight end Kyle Markway is still struggling in the aftermath of his foot injury. It gets sore occasionally.

-- Muschamp said freshman TE Kiel Pollard will play “a good bit” on Saturday vs. East Carolina.

-- Muschamp said East Carolina senior QB Philip Nelson, a Rutgers transfer by way of Minnesota (he was Mr. Football in the state of Minnesota in 2011), has a very quick release and has completed 80 percent of his passes even though the Pirates take 10 to 12 shots deep down the field every game.

-- Muschamp confirmed he visited seven high schools on the Friday after the Vanderbilt game and even flew from the Low Country to the Upstate at one point.

-- Muschamp said USC’s overall team speed must improve. Lack of speed is most glaring on special teams and kick coverage units.

-- A season after a hamstring injury cost him over half the season, Deebo Samuel was hampered by a hamstring injury at Mississippi State. Muschamp said team doctors have looked at everything from diet to work load to find a cure for the problem.

-- Nothing new on WR Lorenzo Nunez. Still working on playing wide receiver.