Muschamp vows lineup changes in secondary; Starting QB decided later

The aftershocks from Saturday night’s disappointing 27-14 loss at Mississippi State will begin to be felt this week when South Carolina looks to bounce back against longtime regional rival East Carolina Saturday afternoon in the 2016 home opener at Williams-Brice Stadium (4 p.m., SEC Network).

Will Muschamp has vowed lineup changes, particularly in the secondary, after poor tackling and poor execution doomed USC’s flawed defensive effort in Starkville. Mississippi State totaled 485 yards, 290 on the ground, and averaged 6.5 yards per play.

“We’re going to make some changes in the secondary,” Muschamp contended Sunday during his weekly teleconference with reporters. “We can’t tolerate lack of effort to want to tackle. That’s something you can’t tolerate. We don’t have a lot of options, but we’re going to have to make some changes. That position affects everybody. We need a little spark.”

Muschamp declined to specify the changes he plans to make in the secondary, choosing to wait until later in the week in order to evaluate how certain players respond in practice to the poor outing in Starkville.

“Practice is important here now. You have to practice well in order to play,” Muschamp said. “I’m young, but I am old-fashioned. I believe the guys that go out and play well on Saturday are the ones that practiced really well during the week. I don’t believe in ‘gamers.’ I believe guys prepare the right way.”

Muschamp said Saturday night’s poor tackling display was not the product of a lack of hitting in practice. The Gamecocks work on tackling every day, he maintained.

“I don’t want anybody to get the misconception that all of a sudden we need to start doing tackling drills,” Muschamp said. “That something you do. I’ve been a defensive coach my entire career and we do that every day. It’s part of our individual drills in every practice.

“In camp, we did team tackling. Some of that has to be want-to. There was a lack of want-to, in my opinion, in several situations. We corrected that on film today and we’ll move forward with the guys we feel are capable of doing it our way. That’s physical and tough.”

On Mississippi State quarterback Nick Fitzgerald’s 74-yard dash through the right side midway through the first quarter, multiple Gamecock defenders had an opportunity at the point of attack to tackle him close to the line of scrimmage yet failed to do so.

“When you miss the tackle on a two-back power, they gain three more yards, but when you miss the tackle of a quarterback pull play out the back side with three guys at the point of attack, they gained 74 yards because it’s a space play,” Muschamp said.

“We have to tackle better in space. That’s something we will continue to work on.”

While Muschamp is promising changes at certain positions, quarterback is not one of them. Freshman Brandon McIlwain played the entire second half at Mississippi State when the Gamecock offense looked sharper and was more productive, scoring all 14 of its points.

McIlwain was 11-of-22 passing for 126 yards and two touchdowns in Starkville after Perry Orth was 9-of-17 passing for 83 yards in the first half when little went right for USC on both sides of the ball.

“We did move the ball better in the second half with some of the things we did,” Muschamp said.

Muschamp will hold off naming a starting quarterback for Saturday’s home opener until later in the week when both signal callers have had a chance to impress the coaches in practice.

“We’ll see how both those guys practice and we’ll continue to evaluate the situation.” Muschamp said. “Brandon did some good things when he was in there and Perry did some nice things as well.”

Poor tackling hurt the Gamecocks in run defense as Mississippi State averaged 6.4 yards per rushing attempt (290 rushing yards on 45 carries) compared to 1.1 yards (34 yards on 31 carries) for the Gamecocks.

“We just got whipped on both lines of scrimmage,” Muschamp said. “The inability to run the ball in the first half and stop the run (hurt us). This game put us behind the sticks in a lot of situations offensively. Defensively, the inability to get off the field, especially in some scramble situations on third down, really hurt. We had some critical errors in the game. I was pleased with how our guys responded in the second half. We need to improve.”

USC lacked physicality at the point of attack and must play better in space, which Muschamp said was “pretty evident.”

NOTES:

-- INJURY REPORT: Muschamp said OL Blake Camper, who was helped off the field, suffered a high ankle sprain and will definitely miss Saturday’s home opener against ECU. He will be joined on the disabled list by safety Chaz Elder, who has bruised ribs.

-- Camper started at right tackle Saturday night ahead of D.J. Park based on better practice performances, Muschamp said. Park played well after replacing Camper in the lineup, he added. Because of several poor shotgun snaps by Alan Knott, consideration was given to moving Corey Helms to center and Park to right guard. That lineup will continue to be discussed this week. Knott acknowledged the poor snaps were due to a lack of focus.

-- Muschamp said the coaches and players watched the video of the Mississippi State game Sunday. The players have Monday off before preparation for Saturday’s home opener against East Carolina begins Tuesday morning.

-- Muschamp said redshirt freshman RB A.J. Turner “continues to make some plays” for the Gamecocks when given enough running room, which was scarce Saturday night against MSU’s aggressive defense. Hayden Hurst, Bryan Edwards, Randrecous Davis, K.C. Crosby and Kiel Pollard all drew praise from Muschamp. “There are a lot of first for those guys, which is exciting,” he said.

-- David Williams did not have a carry in Saturday night’s game. Turner and McIlwain combined for 27 of USC’s 31 carries. Rod Talley had one rush for two yards. Muschamp said he wanted to give the former walk-on an opportunity.

-- Muschamp said the Gamecocks kickoff coverage unit was “a little better” against MSU. The Bulldogs returned one kickoff for 14 yard. “We still need to clean some things up,” Muschamp said. He praised punter Sean Kelly, who averaged 49.1 yards on seven punts, landing two inside the 20-yard line. The gunners got “jammed” on a couple of occasions, which Muschamp described as “disappointing.” Javon Charleston was inserted at the gunner later in the game and did a good job, Muschamp said.

-- Former Gamecock defensive line coach Deke Adams holds the same position at East Carolina under first-year head coach Scottie Montgomery. Muschamp said Adams’ knowledge of the Gamecock players could give the Pirates a slight edge on Saturday. “Do I think it helps, sure,” Muschamp said. “Is it going to make a difference in the game? No.”

-- USC has been outscored 34-0 in the first half of the first two games of the season as poor starts continue to plague the Gamecocks. Falling behind early was a major problem last year (USC last led at halftime in the 2014 Independence Bowl vs. Miami) and thus far nothing has changed in that department. “I was really disappointed in how we came out,” Muschamp said. “We had the third down sacks (on USC’s first two possessions) and we came out lifeless on defense. We asked the guys today, ‘What was it?’ To get the guys to respond, we’re going to look at some different things. We talked with the staff today about pregame. We’re going to figure some things out to get out of the gate quicker.”