White, Beamer hoping secondary breakdowns an 'easy fix'

Some of Clayton White’s rules for defensive backs are pretty straightforward.

In an age of scheme talk and deciphering disguises and blitz packages, sometimes a breakdown comes from slipping on the simplicities.

“My old school philosophy is if a guy can run past you and score a touchdown in front of 80,000 people that’s who you should be looking at,” he said, smiling wryly. “It’s pretty simple. You should watch that guy and make sure he’s not the one running past you.”

Saturday against Vanderbilt the Gamecocks didn’t necessarily follow that plan, giving up five pass plays of at least 15 yards with three of those going for at least 40 yards.

For White, the breakdowns weren’t based on the calls being made: one was a scramble, off rhythm play resulting in a 44-yard gain, another was a bad eyes situation while another (the 52-yard touchdown pass) resulted from a broken tackle.

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If it were a schematic issue, those problems would be harder to fix in a three-practice week, but the Gamecocks are optimistic those can be ironed out this week before playing Texas A&M.

“It’s an easy fix, hopefully. Our guys understand” White said. “We’ve harped on it— coach Beamer, myself, coach Gray—trying to improve and continue to work on things. those are mistakes we can easily fix.”

Take away those big plays—which have to be fixed before taking on a top-25 Texas A&M team—Vanderbilt’s Mike Wright was just 6-for-16 for 21 yards and an interception.

Cam Smith was the highest-graded Gamecock by PFF (90) and Jaylan Foster continues to have a breakout season on the back end in a game Shane Beamer said the secondary played between glaring breakdowns.

Also see: PFF breakdown of the Aggies

“We have to be better. That goes back to the fundamentals and technique and emphasizing it better and coaching it better to get those guys on the ground, because we’ve done a good job of tackle,” Beamer said.

“When you miss a tackle in the secondary or bust a coverage in the secondary it’s magnified in football. Linebackers and D-line you can do that and there’s people behind you to clean it up. When it happens in the secondary there’s nobody behind you.”

Texas A&M’s passing attack isn’t the most potent, ranking fifth in the SEC in passes of at least 10 yards but at or near the bottom in passes of at least 20, 30 or 40 yards.

Vanderbilt was an anemic downfield passing attack also and South Carolina needs to be careful since the Aggies have the ability to air it out; Zach Calzada has an NFL rating of 103.6 with four scores and a pick on throws of at least 20 yards downfield per PFF.

What will help the secondary is the continued emergence of the Gamecocks’ defensive line getting to Calzada, who’s been pressured some this year.

Zacch Pickens is a key piece of the rush coming off two of his best games as a Gamecock.

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“Zacch’s a talented football player, a big guy who plays very hard and practices very well. He takes coaching, and it’s very good to see those guys. Any time a defensive tackle starts getting a spotlight it means he’s doing a lot of good work and doing good things,” White said.

“The better the ends play and better the linebackers play, because we play aggressive, the double teams come off Zacch and it’s hard for one guy to block Zacch.”

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