SOUTH CAROLINA FOOTBALL
Gamecock Central breaks down what went right and what went wrong against Kentucky.
Three Up
1. The game plan
It wasn’t pretty, but it worked. At some point in the first half, the Gamecocks realized that the only they could lose would be if they beat themselves. Sure, it meant running almost twice as much as passing and resulted in nine punts, but they knew the Wildcats couldn’t drive the length of the field to score. Plus Rico Dowdle (6.8 yards per carry) and Tavien Feaster (7.1 yards per carry) had shown they were threats to break off a long run on any carry.
It was similar to what South Carolina tried against North Carolina, a game plan that ended up costing them the game, but there were key differences. First, North Carolina was moving the ball, it just wasn’t finishing drives. On the other hand, through three quarters, Kentucky had just 11 yards of total offense and only six first downs. Second, South Carolina did just enough in the pass game to give some balance. There were a couple of downfield shots and a variety of screens, especially those to Bryan Edwards, that spread the field and at least showed the threat of a passing game. And lastly, Dowdle and Feaster stayed effective for all four quarters. Contrast that with the North Carolina game, where South Carolina continued to run the ball even after it stopped being effective.
2. Run blocking
The offensive line opened big holes for the running backs all game. Adjusted for sacks, the Gamecocks rushed for 262 yards and averaged 6.1 yards per carry. It’s easy to win doing that. Dowdle and Feaster did a great job breaking tackles for extra yards, but they often weren’t touched until they were through the line of scrimmage. Of the 43 South Carolina rushes, only one went for negative yards.
Watch the blocking on Dowdle’s touchdown run. I’ve watched it a couple dozen times because it’s so much fun.
That’s Jordan Rhodes getting to the defensive end to open the hole. Then Jovaughn Gwyn leads Dowdle through it, blocking two defenders while slowing down a third enough that he couldn’t make the tackle.
3. Going for the jugular
We’re sticking with that run. Under Will Muschamp the Gamecocks have struggled converting turnovers into points (it happened again following Ernest Jones’ first quarter interception), and one of the biggest complaints is that they never seem to call an aggressive play after the change of possession. That was, of course, one of Steve Spurrier’s trademarks. Even though the other team knew he was going to take a shot after a turnover, it still worked more often than not. After D.J. Wonnum’s strip sack early in the third quarter, the Muschamp Gamecocks finally took their shot.
With Spurrier, it was almost a pass, but this was a run. In the first half, Mushamp saw something about the way Kentucky was playing the run and he knew they had a play to take advantage. At halftime, he told offensive coordinator Bryan McClendon what he’d seen, and told him to call it when they needed a big play. McClendon called it after the change of possession, and South Carolina scored to take a 17-0 lead that felt insurmountable.
Three Down
1. Pass blocking
As good as the run blocking was, the pass protection was shaky. Ryan Hilinski was sacked three times and hurried another five times. He took far too many hits despite the Gamecocks leaning heavily on the run game. He rarely had enough time to throw downfield, and repeatedly had to check down to avoid a sack. They poor pass protection was the reason the Gamecocks went so conservative - the Wildcat pressure was consistent enough that the Gamecocks were concerned about a strip sack or interception.
2. Punt returns
Kentucky’s Max Duffy is pretty good, and his rugby-style punts are notoriously hard to field, but South Carolina struggled in the return game. Duffy punted nine times, and the only time a South Carolina player even touched one was when a punt bounced of Darius Rush’s back. Kentucky couldn’t convert that turnover into points, but the return team repeatedly put South Carolina in tough spots. Edwards, the usual punt returner, had so much trouble with the punts that he was eventually replaced by Shi Smith, who wasn’t much better.
3. Game management
This is kind of an overarching annoyance: why are coaches so bad at game management? At the end of the first half, South Carolina again mismanaged the clock and had to punt the ball back to Kentucky when it could have easily run out the clock. In the fourth quarter, Kentucky was down 24-0, three touchdowns and three two-point conversions. Kentucky finally scored a touchdown with 2:32 left. Mark Stoops had a choice, go for two and try an onside kick, or kick the PAT and concede the game was over. Instead, he kicked the PAT and kicked the onside kick, the worst of both worlds.
It’s just as bad in the NFL. At the time I’m writing this, I’ve seen two games, and in both games one of the coaches completely botched his timeouts in the second half (both lost). Now can someone help me down from my soap box?
