Once 'light years away,' secondary brings renewed swagger into campaign
They were the words the South Carolina secondary was hoping not to hear.
Shortly after spring practice ended, Will Muschamp declared the secondary was “light years” away from being a productive unit in the SEC, identifying just three players he believed could play ‘winning football’ for the Gamecocks: Chaz Elder, Rashad Fenton and Chris Lammons.
Nearly five months later, Muschamp’s stinging description is little more than distant memory for a surprisingly confident group heading into Thursday night’s season opener at Vanderbilt.
Lammons even told reporters recently that the Gamecocks secondary would definitely play better this season than most analysts believed.
Junior safety D.J. Smith, a holdover from the highly-acclaimed 2014 secondary signing class along with Lammons, shares his optimism, crediting USC defensive coordinator and secondary coach Travaris Robinson with bringing the swagger back.
“It’s (Coach) T-Rob, honestly,” Smith said. “He brought that swag. He’s young, he has energy and Coach Muschamp too. They have just instilled that in us. I think there is more to come. (Coach) T-Rob is doing a good job teaching us. He makes everything simple and where everybody can learn it. We’re picking it up pretty well.”
Across the board, the secondary seems pleased with the decision to employ far more bump-and-run coverage this season. Result? Happier players make better players.
“We are coming together,” JUCO transfer Jamarcus King said. “(The coaches are really emphasizing being physical). We do perimeter drills every day. The coaches like us to be physical. I bring a bump-and-run mentality to the team. I am comfortable playing bump-and-run.”
Another key difference since the end of last season Smith said the defensive backs are holding each other accountable.
Smith said the Vanderbilt offense likes to utilize shifts and motions in an effort to get a defense out of its comfort zone.
“All the shifts they do, that’s the biggest thing,” Smith said. “They like to shift and get us out of the formations we’re supposed to be in. WE just have to be locked and loaded.”
Rico McWilliams, who left the team for a few days to handle a family issue, said Vanderbilt’s offensive strategy tests a defense’s collective ability to stay focused.
“All the trickery they do, they’ll shift formation right before the snap,” McWilliams said. “They might line up one way, then right before the snap they’ll go to another scheme. We have to be zoned in to what we’ve got to do.”
Smith’s performance has been up-and-down in his first two years with the Gamecocks. Last season, he appeared in all 12 games, primarily on special teams. However, he saw increasingly more action at strong safety as the disappointing 2015 season progressed. He made his first start of the year at Tennessee and finished with 22 tackles.
Smith has a fairly simple explanation for the improvement he has exhibited in practice after bouncing in and out of the lineup over the past two seasons.
“I know what to do, that’s the biggest thing,” Smith said. “I got a lot more smarter and studied my playbook more. I had the ability, I just wasn’t as smart (as I should have been). I could have done more and met with the coach more. But now I’ve dedicated myself to the playbook. Things have been picking up.”
Smith, who has 33 career tackles in 24 games, is halfway through his college eligibility, and he sees the sands of time emptying in the hourglass.
“Time is running out, I’ve only got two more years left, so it’s crunch time,” said Smith, who has played chiefly at safety but lined up at cornerback as well. “I have to make some plays.”
His favorite matchup in practice? Tight end Hayden Hurst.
“Hayden is a big dude, he runs nice routes and he has strong hands,” Smith said. “He is a smart player. He’s always in the weight room. He is strong and fast. He has a very good work ethic. He competes every single day.”
