SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS FOOTBALL

When South Carolina players came in after the Tennessee game and flicked on the tape of Vanderbilt, there was one particular they noticed right from the jump.

“Bringing the house,” Dakereon Joyner said. “They play a lot of man but they play a lot of different things to confuse you. They’re a hard man team with cover one and cover zero.”

The Commodores may not have the world’s shiniest record—they currently sit at 1-3 in the SEC—but did notch their first Power 5 win of the year against Missouri last time out.

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Their numbers aren’t great, ranking in the bottom half in every statistical category, but they do a lot of things to put pressure on an offense, especially the line.

Joyner mentioned they run a lot of cover zero, which means the corners play man to man coverage with no safeties deep and six or seven defenders blitzing.

Cover one is pretty similar, only with one deep safety and still a heavy pass rush.

It’s a matchup nightmare for South Carolina, which has struggled to protect in the pass game with Dylan Wonnum out nursing an ankle injury.

“Watching them, they blitz a lot,” Donell Stanley said. “We’re going to try to do some things to adjust and give Ryan some more time. They do play cover zero. Hopefully we can get the ball out fast and let Bryan, Shi and them make some plays.”

Over the last three games the Gamecocks average pass block grade has been 49.9, according to Pro Football Focus, including a season-low 38.9 grade against Tennessee last week.

Ryan Hilinski, who’s dealt with injuries and freshmen struggles this year, is completing 50 percent of his passes against the blitz with a NFL passer rating of 72.5. Under pressure, Hilinski is completing just 37.5 percent of his passes with a passer rating of 46.7.

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Vanderbilt averages almost 13 quarterback pressures per game and is coming off a bye week where they’ve had extra time to study South Carolina’s tendencies.

“You have to be dialed in. They’ve had another week to prepare, so I’m sure there will be more looks and wrinkles,” Muschamp said. “You have to be dialed in protection wise on where your hots are then run game-wise your run-throughs. You have to be dialed in with certainly heightened alert on secondary run-throughs with linebackers. There’s no doubt you have to be focused and dialed in on our job.”

The Gamecocks (3-5, 2-4 SEC) desperately need to win this game if they want to go bowling this season with only four games left and a razor-thin margin for error.

When they win and succeed offensively, a lot hinges on an offensive line currently going through some struggles. They’re starting two freshmen—Jovaughn Gwyn and Jaylen Nichols—and another first-year starter, redshirt sophomore Jordan Rhodes.

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“We have to grow up at every position,” Stanley said. “When you get thrown in there, you have to be ready to execute. When you’re playing in hostile environments like that, it can’t be a surprise it’s going to be loud. Those guys are going to feed off their energy like we do at our place. For me, that’s what I’m trying to get our guys (to understand).”