Former Northwestern star familiar to Gamecocks
South Carolina's nation-leading pass defense faces a favorable matchup this week.
With starting quarterback Tyler Bray injured and backup Matt Simms ineffective, Tennessee will look to freshman Justin Worley to lead its offense on Saturday. Worley, a Rock Hill native, is a familiar face to some Gamecock defenders, including Jadeveon Clowney and Stephon Gilmore. As a senior at Northwestern High School, he set a South Carolina state record with 64 touchdowns, but he has yet to throw a pass as a college player.
After struggling in the first two weeks of the season, USC's pass defense has risen to the top of the country by holding opponents to an average of just more than 85 passing yards in the past five games and just 133 yards per game this season. The Gamecocks will look to continue their success against the Volunteers by spoiling Worley's first collegiate start.
"The young man is obviously a good football player," defensive coordinator Lorenzo Ward said of Worley. "He was the Parade (Magazine) Player of the Year at Northwestern and won a state championship. I told Clowney that he beat him [in high school], so we're going to take it a little personal.
"We've got to go play and play to get better as the Gamecocks. Tennessee is going to give us their best shot. It boils down to how we play."
Carolina has not gotten caught up in its ranking as a leading defensive team, keeping its focus on preparations for Saturday's matchup instead.
"It's nice to know, but we still have to play the game," linebacker Devonte Holloman said. "We can't worry about statistics and numbers. We're taking it a game at a time. We're focusing on Tennessee. We had the bye week, so we got a head start on them. We're getting ready for this game and this game only."
Although Gilmore was full of praise for the Volunteers' new quarterback, he said USC will take advantage of his inexperience.
"I watched him in high school," Gilmore said. "He has a great arm. He has power behind his arm. I've seen him throw the ball deep a lot. We have to be in position to make a play on the ball. He's a great quarterback, but we've got to make him pay for being a freshman and try to come out on top."
Worley was given the starting job after Simms went eight-for-17 for just 58 passing yards in Tennessee's loss to Alabama last week. The Gamecocks have not taken it for granted that Worley will struggle in his debut, and they are prepared to be aggressive and limit the freshman's passing options.
The Volunteers' receiving corps has already suffered from the loss of Justin Hunter, who tore his ACL on Sept. 17 and will miss the rest of this season. Hunter was averaging 104 receiving yards in three games prior to the injury.
Tennessee's new top receiver, sophomore Da'Rick Rogers, has started all seven games this season, collecting an average of 87 receiving yards.
"He's a really good player," Ward said. "He's become their go-to guy since they lost their best receiver earlier in the season. He's been the guy that they throw the ball to."
USC will focus on stifling Rogers, who leads the Volunteers with six touchdown receptions on the season.
"He's a great receiver. He's physical," Gilmore said. "Coach told us we just have to challenge him and not give up big plays."
But the Gamecocks will not overlook Tennessee's other threats at wide receiver, including starter Mychal Rivera and backups DeAnthony Arnett and Marlin Lane.
"They have a lot of good receivers. [Rogers is] not the only one," Holloman said. "They have a lot of speed, and they use a lot of different people, so we have to be prepared."
The Gamecock secondary has become a major strength for the team in recent weeks, and this weekend it will seek to continue its surge against Tennessee's inexperienced signal-caller.
"You never know how a young man reacts from high school to college," Ward said. "It's his first opportunity to throw the ball in a ball game. He took some snaps [against Alabama], but he didn't throw it. Anybody can throw it if you give them time to throw it and if you let guys run open. We're going to continue to try to do what we've been doing, and we'll see how the ball falls on Saturday."