Satterfield, Beamer weigh in on run game

Marcus Satterfield can hear his dad can hear his dad yelling at him.

Satterfield’s father, a longtime high school football coach in Tennessee, wouldn’t be happy with the Gamecocks’ rushing production through four games and wouldn’t be afraid to let his son know it.

But Satterfield, South Carolina’s offensive coordinator already knows and it’s driving him crazy.

“I know it’s so painful. You watch it,” Satterfield said. “We’re going to tirelessly keep addressing it and eventually it’s going to get going. We have really good running backs. Our offensive line, they’ve had two really good weeks since Georgia and had their best week this week. I get the question 100 percent. I ask myself that every day and it’s driving me nuts. We’re going to get it. We’ll get it.”

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It’s been a frustrating start for the Gamecocks’ ground game, which came to the season talked about as one of the best rushing attacks in the SEC.

So far the Gamecocks rank 11th in the conference in yards per carry (3.5) and rushes of 10-plus yards (15).

Their one rush of at least 20 yards is tied for the worst in the league with Mississippi State and the Gamecocks have a 36 percent success rate on the ground with a 24 percent stuff rate on runs not in garbage time.

“Some of it is the offensive line, some of it is the play call, some of it is this position group didn’t do what they were supposed to do and the next time the next position group didn’t,” Satterfield said. “It’s all little layers, pebbles and nuggets that drive you absolutely insane. It’s not cohesive yet. We keep addressing it.”

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Shane Beamer said this week it was a “host of things” contributing to the stagnation in the run game across multiple positions and different issues popping up on different plays.

Satterfield mentioned having to tweak the run game some compared to what the offense was doing earlier in camp and getting adjusted to it in a game.

“We need to go be able to execute no matter what the defense is and no matter what the play is called,” Beamer said. “Own your responsibility. We talked about that this morning as a team. Own your responsibility and get the job done, players and coaches.”

Because of the struggles on the ground the Gamecocks have struggled to do much of anything else offensively and it’s hamstringing the team’s ability to develop an offensive identity.

That’s priority number one moving forward for South Carolina as it gets into the final two thirds of its schedule.

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“We’re constantly trying to find the right combinations and right plays and personnel and we haven’t had any consistent success on offense right now. You don’t have an identity yet. Our identity is we’re going to be physical, tough, we’re going to run the football, play action pass and utilize screen game and get the ball on the perimeter and let receivers make plays,” Satterfield said.

“That’s what we want our identity to be but we’re not there yet. That’s what we’re striving to get to. We’re not there yet, but we will get there. I know it’s easy to say and hard to do, but that’s what we’re here to do.”

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