SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS FOOTBALL

South Carolina head coach Will Muschamp has talked all offseason about the need for his team to better protect the football on offense. One of the five keys to success for a game that Muschamp always lists within his program, that goal has of course carried over to fall camp.

"Our whole No. 1 point for our whole team, is protect the ball," quarterbacks coach Dan Werner said Friday. "If we protect the ball, we've got playmakers enough to score points on offense, and we're good enough on defense to win games if we protect the football."

If better protecting the football this season is the No. 1 goal, then a close No. 2 is improving red zone production.

"Red zone touchdowns," Werner said. "I don't even look at that stat that says red zone scoring. You kick a bunch of field goals. I look at how many times did we score touchdowns and we weren't close to how we want to be."

Werner identified a 70 percent touchdown percentage in the red zone as a goal for this year's offense.

Looking back to last year's SEC stats, Mississippi State led the conference in the metric, scoring touchdowns on just over 69 percent of their trips inside the 20-yard-line.

With 32 touchdowns in 56 red zone trips, South Carolina's 57 percent touchdown rate ranked just 11th in the SEC.

Using the last five years as a guide, an increase to a 65 percent rate nearly guarantees a finish in the top half of the league in that category. During South Carolina's run of consecutive 11-win seasons from 2011 through 2013, the Gamecocks finished in the top five in TD percentage all three years.

Another focus this offseason, improving the running game against high-level competition, should have a direct effect on the Gamecocks' red zone ability.

"I think, for us, if you look at all the stats, a lot of the teams that are really running teams, obviously, they're better at it," Werner said. "So, for us, we've got to get better at running the football down there. But we are the type of team that if you load the box, we've got to be able to pull it and throw it. So, if that's the case, we've got to make plays."

Quarterback Jake Bentley adds that turnovers, especially in the red zone, have been his biggest focus this offseason.

"Mindset-wise, getting into the red zone, you want to get points, but we'd rather take it out of the kicker's hands and just let him knock the extra point through, and let us do the work and score the touchdown" Bentley said. "I love (kicker) Parker (White) and I have full confidence that he will make it if he has to, but I'd rather let us get it in there. He still gets to kick it, he's just kicking for one point, not three."