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What the Gamecock coordinators are saying about North Carolina

SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS FOOTBALL

When the Gamecocks took the practice field Thursday, they were doing something they haven't done all preseason: preparing for an opponent.

Fall camp is over and the Gamecocks began preparations for North Carolina Thursday, which will continue over the next nine days before kick off on Aug. 31.

While players are just starting to learn the game plan, the coaching staff has been working on theirs for the last few weeks and putting together a plan to stop the Tar heels and true freshman starting quarterback Sam Howell.

Photo by Chris Gillespie
Photo by Chris Gillespie

"I understand they’re starting a freshman and we have to have a package for him. we have to go back and watch his high school film, which is funny because when we were at Florida, we had to do that with Johnny Manziel,” defensive coordinator Travaris Robinson said. “We recruited (Howell) and we know who he is and what he’s capable of. He’s a good player and obviously earned a starting spot. They obviously saw something in fall camp they liked but we have to go out there and take care of us.”

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The Gamecocks recruited Howell before landing Ryan Hilinski in the 2019 class and are ready to send an experienced defensive line after him.

But while they don't know what to exactly expect from Howell, there is some familiarity with the Tar Heel's offensive coordinator Phil Longo.

Longo was the offensive coordinator at Ole Miss last season, orchestrating a Rebel offense which put up 44 points and 616 yards against a banged up Gamecocks' defense.

“He’s been some other places and you don’t know if that’s tailored to Ole Miss. So we have to do a good job of going back and watching everywhere he’s been and understanding they’ll have some two-back principles we’ll need to be able to stop, some option stuff that we need to be able to stop," Robinson said. "We have a good plan for him. Obviously seeing him before and seeing the things he hurt us with at Ole Miss we need to prepare for."

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One of the biggest things the Gamecocks have working in their favor is practicing against the offense, which is up-tempo and multiple similar to a Longo-led offense in recent stops.

Robinson said the fast-paced offense and practice temp has really helped the team's defense get ready for what they'll face, saying he wants to make practice harder than games.

"Now you get a chance to not be so tired, get a chance to sit down and get some air conditioning and watch it on the Jumbotron before having to go out as opposed to special teams, offense, defense," he said. "Practice is a little harder than in the game.”

Offensive coordinator Bryan McClendon's job is a little different, preparing for a coordinator he's never coached against.

That would be Jay Bateman, who spent the last five years at Army as the Golden Knights' defensive coordinator.

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“That DC does a great job. Obviously he was over there at Army. To be honest, he does a good job pressuring the quarterback and making a lot of coverages look like one another. Now you can’t guess on the back end what they’re going to do. You have to do a good job of going through progressions and taking what they give you," McClendon said.

"He does a good job of showing pressure and not pressuring and not showing pressure and pressuring. He does a really good job of covering the whole scope of stopping the run, pressuring the quarterback and playing in your backfield a bunch. Any time you face someone like that, all of that stuff concerns you. You have to do a good job of coming up with a plan you feel we can go out there and execute. We know we’re going ot get an excited team, we know we’re going to get the best shot they can give and they’re going to be coached extremely well. We know they’re going to work hard and we have to do the same.”

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