Eight things Muschamp wants to accomplish during spring practice
Spring practice begins Saturday for South Carolina with the first of two NCAA mandated ‘acclimation’ practices in which the players wear helmets, shirts and shorts. Wednesday, Will Muschamp outlined some of the major goals for his second spring practice:
1. Improve the Gamecocks' physical and mental toughness: Between the Gamecocks’ inability to run the football or stop the run consistently, and their 1-4 road record, Muschamp said USC fell short in this area in 2016.
The Gamecocks averaged 3.67 yards per rushing attempt in 2016 while surrendering 4.80 yards per carry by the opposition. Extend that 1.13-yard gap over the course of an entire season, and USC was woefully inadequate in the ground game.
“We didn’t handle some things on the road and we didn’t handle adversity well at times,” Muschamp said Wednesday during his spring preview press conference . “We need to learn to play through those situations. We struggled to run the ball offensively and we struggled to stop the run defensively. A lot of that goes back to toughness.
“It goes back to the core values of our program, and we want to be a physically tough football team. We weren’t. We were a soft organization last year and it was disappointing to put that on the field. Being physical is a state of mind and we have to continue to buy into that. It’s all 11 guys on the field. We have to be a tougher football team moving forward.”
2. Stay healthy: The Gamecocks are not dealing with any major injuries heading into the start of spring practice. Rising sophomore WR Bryan Edwards underwent hernia surgery in the offseason, but he should be ready to go when practice resumes March 14 after spring break. Edwards caught 44 passes last season despite battling a hamstring ailment all season while the hernia popped up late in the campaign.
“Bryan really hasn’t been fully healthy since he’s been here. He had a meniscus coming out of Conway, and he battled through that last spring. He had hamstring issues in the fall, and the sports hernia came up late in the season. He played in pain the entire season, really. We need to get him healthy. He’s about 85 percent right now.”
Incoming freshman receiver OrTre Smith suffered an ankle injury during his senior season at Wando and likely won’t fully participate in spring practice until after spring break. Running back C.J. Freeman suffered a major knee injury in bowl practice and will miss the spring.
3. Find a way to keep Brandon McIlwain involved: Even though he hasn’t played in the first four games, McIlwain is fully invested into baseball this spring and intends to stay with Chad Holbrook’s program for the next four months until the season ends (Gamecock fans hope that won’t happen until Omaha). Nonetheless, he is still USC’s No. 2 quarterback behind Jake Bentley and he attends the meetings and participates in winter conditioning.
“His class schedule has allowed him to be here in the mornings and meet with us and go through those sorts of things,” Muschamp said, adding tight end Evan Hinson will stay with the men’s basketball team as well. “(McIlwain) is battling to be the starter. He’s been involved in all of our meetings, all of the mental reps. Again, in the recruiting process, with Brandon and his parents, he was going to play baseball full-time after his first full spring. That’s where we are.”
4. Sort out the offensive line: Perhaps the biggest news nuggets Wednesday from Muschamp’s press conference was Zack Bailey‘s move from left guard to right tackle. What does that mean? The Gamecock offensive line will have new starters at both left tackle (Mason Zandi graduated) and left guard. Rising junior Malik Young and rising redshirt freshman Sadarius Hutcherson will compete for the left tackle job during spring practice. Blake Camper and newly enrolled freshman Summie Carlay (Laurens) will work behind Bailey at right tackle.
“Athletically, we feel like (Bailey) can certainly play the right tackle position,” Muschamp said. “He is a good enough athlete to play on the edge. We felt Malik and Sadarious are probably the fastest twitch guys we’ve got up front to go play (left tackle) where you need to have your best athlete on the offensive line.”
The quartet of Cory Helms, Alan Knott, D.J. Park and Donell Stanley are the top candidates to fill the three interior positions. Trey Derouen, Christian Pellage, Chandler Farrell (walk-on from Summerville), Pika Leota and Will Putnam assures new offensive line coach Eric Wolford will have plenty of bodies to work with during his first spring back with the Gamecocks.
“We need to find out the best five, six, seven or eight and who those guys are,” Muschamp said. “Obviously the left tackle has a void there with Mason graduating. We have good depth on the offensive line for the spring in order to rep and improve our physicality.”
5. Accelerate the progress of Jake Bentley: Since Bentley did not join the Gamecock program until last summer, this will be his first spring practice with the Gamecocks. Bentley’s progression from wide-eyed freshman to arguably one of the top returning quarterbacks in the conference (SEC Network analyst Greg McElroy put him at No. 3) began in January and so far he has done all the right things.
“He’s a guy that has really attacked the offseason in the right way as far as his meetings are concerned,” Muschamp said. “He has got a better grasp of what we are offensively.”
With McIlwain involved with baseball, rising junior Michael Scarnecchia and walk-ons Bailey Hart and Danny Gordon will take the backup quarterback reps.
6. Facilitate competition at running back: If there is one position to focus on during spring practice, this is it. The daily battle between Rico Dowdle, A.J. Turner and North Carolina transfer Ty’Son Williams (Sumter) will likely headline each of the 15 workouts. Moreover, Mon Denson is healthy and could get involved as well with Freeman injured. What do those four running backs have in common? They are all sophomores.
“At the running back position, we have a lot of competition,” Muschamp said. “Ty’Son Williams is a guy we are excited about. Obviously, he sat out this past year. We think he has a huge upside. Rico and A.J. had good years (in 2016), and Mon Denson is back healthy. We’re excited about that.”
7. Integrate Skai Moore back into the defense: The Gamecocks leading tackler for three straight years (2013-15), how Moore fares in the spring upon returning to live action after sitting out the entire 2016 season promises to be a major storyline over the next five weeks. Wednesday, Muschamp said Moore has been cleared for takeoff.
“It’s great to get Skai Moore back. He’s had a really good, tough offseason,” Muschamp said. “He has been through a very frustrating time with a lot of setbacks. He has handled it extremely well. He had a little bit of a turf toe today, but he’ll be fine for Saturday. He’s been cleared for everything, so we’re excited to get him back on the field. He adds, obviously, playmaking ability with experience and speed. Adding his leadership ability will be huge. We get a lot faster when he’s on the field. We need to continue moving in that direction.”
Moore will play WILL linebacker mostly, but could occasionally slide over to SAM since those two positions are schematically similar. Bryson Allen-Williams will play SAM (and line up at BUCK in obvious pass rushing situations) while T.J. Brunson will move between MIKE and WILL. All three guys can line up at multiple spots.
8. Develop depth at defensive tackle: When fall camp starts, the trio of Taylor Stallworth, Ulric Jones and heralded JUCO signee Javon Kinlaw figure to have prominent roles in the defensive tackle rotation. But the Gamecocks need an additional body or two there, which is why Muchamp wants the young trio of Kobe Smith (four tackles in 11 games in 2016), Stephon Taylor and Aaron Thompson to show progress in spring practice.
“We really need these next three guys - Stephon Taylor, Kobe Smith and Aaron Thompson - to really step up,” Muschamp said. “(Taylor and Thompson) have been through a redshirt season. These guys need to take a step forward for us defensively. A huge part of our success is going to be how well those three guys continue to come along for us.”
