Tackling a focal point after season opener

The Gamecocks struggled to wrap up and get the Tar Heel skill players on the ground, and it ultimately came back to bite them in a 24-20 loss in their season opener.

“We have a couple guys that don’t bring their feet on tackles and they think they’re going to butt guys down in this league and that doesn’t happen. Those guys are all good backs. It’s very similar to what we’ve seen through the years,” Will Muschamp said. “We have to bring our feet on tackles and wrap up better. We didn’t do that in some cases. We didn’t leverage the ball the correct way in some occasions. It wasn’t just one thing, there were a few things.”

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It’s a problem that seemingly should have been fixed entering year four with a veteran group of defenders that’s played a lot at the college level.

The Gamecocks missed 18 tackles Saturday, according to Pro Football Focus, with five players missing more than one.

Javon Kinlaw, Jam Williams and D.J. Wonnum were all credited with three whiffs, while R.J. Roderick and Kobe Smith each had two. Jaycee Horn, J.J. Enagbare, Sherrod Green, Aaron Sterling and T.J. Brunson had one apiece.

North Carolina rattled off 13 explosive plays with five runs going for more than 20 yards. Sam Howell completed seven passes for more than 15 yards with two coming on the eventual game-winning drive after evading some pressure.

There were plenty of times it looked like the defense had North Carolina’s offense bottled up for a loss or no gain, but a back would escape and gash the Gamecocks for big gains.

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“Wrap up and tackle,” Brunson said. “We get guys in the backfield, we need to finish those plays and make sure we work on finishing.”

The biggest issue, according to Muschamp and a few other players, was guys not bringing their feet on tackles.

It’s something they’ve tried to remedy in practice this week, Wonnum said. It’s not certain that’ll fix all of the tackling woes, but it certainly can’t hurt.

“That means just lunging,” he said. “If you’re lunging trying to wrap them up, you can’t do that.”

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The tackling issues are especially frustrating for Muschamp, who said the Gamecocks went the entirety of preseason camp without any issues tackling.

The Gamecocks don’t tackle to the ground in practice, TJ Brunson said. They “thud” and hit but don’t bring to the ground.

As they get into the meat of their schedule, the Gamecocks are currently set to face four teams in the top 30 of rushing offenses this year: Clemson (3), Georgia (12), Appalachian State (21) and Texas A&M (27).

"We didn't have any issues in training camp. I didn't feel like there were any major issues there. They're all teachable moments to go back and look at,” Muschamp said. “I thought their backs ran hard and they had good backs, but we'll face good backs all year. So that's part of it, and we'll continue to work."