SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS FOOTBALL

Jaycee Horn has moved around a lot in his freshman year bouncing around to nickel back, cornerback and an array of different spots but will try and tackle something new this weekend.

With the Gamecocks stretched thin on the back end, Horn will move to safety this weekend against UT-Chattanooga.

"He continues to get better; he's going to play safety for us this week. He still can play nickel, still can play corner. He's very intelligent and handles a lot of things and handles it well."

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The Gamecocks are down a handful of safeties heading into this weekend's game with Jamyest Williams and Javon Charleston out for the season, J.T. Ibe and Nick Harvey missing their latest game over the last two months and Jaylin Dickerson out with a hamstring injury.

So, in desperate times, Muschamp's calling on his do-it-all freshman to fill the void.

Horn has played in all nine games this season with eight starts at either the nickel or cornerback spots.

Horn has turned into one of the most productive freshmen in the country with 33 tackles, three for loss, this season with a team-high eight pass breakups.

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"He's up there with some of the better guys I've coached," Muschamp said. "He's a guy that's really mature. Obviously God's blessed him. He's got a lot of abilities: he's fast, he's quick, he's got length, he's got natural football intelligence, but I think his most talented quality is his work ethic and his competitive edge. That's what really sets the good players apart. He goes out and competes in practice."

Horn will be in the defensive backfield with Steven Montac and RJ Roderick, who both started last weekend at Florida with cornerback Rashad Fenton also able to hop in and play safety as well.

If he does, Muschamp said before the game at Florida receiver Shi Smith could play cornerback.