A few weeks ago, I wrote about the potential strength and weakness for a young South Carolina offense. This week, I’ll take a look at the other side of the ball by examining the strengths and weaknesses of the Gamecock defense, a unit coming off of a dismal 2014 campaign. The Gamecocks ranked toward the bottom of the SEC in nearly every major defensive statistical category.
Flash back to February when head coach Steve Spurrier hired Jon Hoke as co-defensive coordinator. Hoke was Spurrier’s defensive specialist during the last two years of his stint at Florida before both moved to the NFL. Hoke has been the secondary coach with the Chicago Bears since 2011 and runs a highly disciplined defensive scheme that incorporates a 4-3 base and an abundance of zone blitzes.
The scheme change should help an underrated defense play to its full potential this season. With Hoke running the Xs and Os of the defense, Lorenzo Ward will have the opportunity to hone in on individual players and units much like he did as secondary coach under Ellis Johnson.
Defensive Strength: Linebackers
The emergence of the junior duo of Jonathan Walton and Skai Moore is proof that college football is more than big-name recruiting. From a recruiting standpoint, the linebackers are one of the weakest units on South Carolina, boasting just two four-star or higher recruits — sophomore Bryson Allen-Williams and freshman Sherrod Pittman — yet the unit is the most productive on the entire team.
Moore, a three-star recruit from University High School in Miami, Florida, emerged as a legitimate SEC starter in 2013, leading the Gamecocks with 56 tackles and four interceptions, including two in the Capital One Bowl against Wisconsin. In his sophomore campaign, Moore tallied 93 tackles, the most by a Gamecock since 2006, and snagged three interceptions.
Fellow three-star recruit Walton was the second to develop. After a quiet freshman season, he registered 61 tackles in 2014, 38 of which came in his last five games. The two linebackers shined in an Independence Bowl victory against Miami in the team’s best defensive game of the season.
Walton is rumored to have gained nearly 15 pounds of muscle this offseason and will start at the WILL linebacker position. Moore will start in the middle while Allen-Williams is slated to play at the SAM linebacker spot.
Allen-Williams was recruited as a linebacker but was forced to spend much of last season at defensive end due to a lack of production from that unit. The move back to a more comfortable position should allow the almost 250-pounder to increase his production.
The three linebackers will anchor the middle and play sideline to sideline this season. With an improved defensive line, their production will be more evident this season than in the past. The talent and coaching now present has set the defense up to have a massive turnaround.
Defensive Weakness: Depth
Despite a defensive line that recorded just fourteen sacks a season ago and a secondary that looked lost at times to put it nicely, the Gamecock defense will struggle most with depth issues.
The South Carolina coaching staff made the defensive line a point of emphasis in recruiting this offseason snagging elite JUCO prospects Marquavius Lewis and Dante Sawyer along with some talented interior linemen.
Hoke has been able to focus more on the secondary this offseason with Ward taking the front seven. Never a unit short on talent, the secondary has another year of experience under its belt and the offseason focus on fundamentals should have the back end of the defense tightened up. A talented 2014 class has time to prepare for this season instead of being thrown to the lions like last season.
A number of intriguing position battles are shaping up in the back with the starter at all four positions yet to be determined. Entering the fall, this is something to keep an eye on.
However, the defense has little depth outside of the secondary — whose depth is unproven. In the past, South Carolina’s most productive defensive lines have been nine or 10 players deep. The 2015 Gamecocks have just seven players who have registered a major college snap on the defensive side of the ball.
As solid as the starting three linebackers are, the Gamecocks have little depth behind them. Marcquis Roberts, Sharrod Golightly and Kaiwan Lewis were solid backups, but all three transferred out of the program this offseason. In fact, the only Gamecock backup with significant game experience is redshirt junior Jordan Diggs, who has seen more action this summer at SPUR than any of the three traditional linebacker positions.
In today’s spread-heavy SEC, having a deep linebacking corps is not as necessary as in the past, but this year more than most, the Gamecocks are paper thin on defense. Though the secondary showed promise in spring practice, the unit is young, unproven and lacking a star. Quite a few players have the potential to become a shutdown corner, but until someone steps up, the unit will stay so-so.
The Gamecocks have the talent on defense to hang with any team in the SEC, but if a couple of players have down years or encounter injury, 2015 could look much like last year’s 7-6 season. Walton and Moore will lead the linebackers and dock the defense, but whether or not South Carolina can get production from its other talented but untested units remains unseen.
We’ll know in September.