Gamecocks look to rebound from UT game
After surrendering 381 passing yards to Tennessee two weeks ago, defensive coordinator Lorenzo Ward used the off week to shuffle some pieces in the secondary for Saturday’s game against Arkansas.
As for who will be where, that’ll depend on the personnel the Razorbacks, another pass-heavy offense, put on the field.
“We need to do some different stuff back there,” coach Steve Spurrier said. “We only played a couple coverages, and when you play against good passing teams, you’ve got to mix around and do more than that. We obviously have worked on it for a couple weeks now, and we’ll find out if we’ve made any progress because Arkansas, they’re the best passing team in the conference right now.”
“I think we’ve got to play tighter coverages,” Ward said. “We’ve got to do a better job of not showing the quarterback what we’re doing. It’s coaching also. I’m going to take the blame for that.”
While everything will depend on Arkansas’ offensive scheme, Ward said senior D.J. Swearinger could play at cornerback, as opposed to free safety. Senior DeVonte Holloman could see time at strong safety, which would slide Damario Jeffery into the spur position. Swearinger played some at cornerback against Tennessee while Holloman played at strong safety last season.
Cornerback Akeem Auguste is “80-85 percent,” and sophomore Sharrod Golightly is out for the game, Ward said. Defensive tackle Kelcy Quarles will be healthy to play after missing two games with a shoulder sprain.
With most of the defense healthy, Ward looks forward to seeing if the Tennessee performance was a teaching tool.
“That’s just football, I think,” Ward said. “Football has become a more exciting game. Everybody wants to throw it around the yard, so we face quite a few passing teams, so I’m very excited that we’re going to have another really good passing team and see whether we’ve grown from the Tennessee game.”
“I love passing teams,” sophomore defensive end Jadeveon Clowney said. “I like to make big sacks for the team, so I’m looking forward to it.”
Against Tennessee, the Gamecocks faced quarterback Tyler Bray, and against the Razorbacks, USC will have its hands full with another pro-prospect at quarterback in Tyler Wilson. Ward said the two are very similar.
“He’s a good quarterback,” cornerback Victor Hampton said. “He tries to hold the safety in the middle of the field so he can’t really read him. I think he threw for a lot of yards against us last year, so it’s another big challenge, so we’ve just got to step up and not give up over 300 yards like we did last week.
“We’ve definitely got to be more aggressive and just get in (the receivers’) faces more and let them know that we’re here.”
Ward said a key will also be watching the running backs, who do a good job of getting to the flat and catching the ball there.
“That’s one thing about Arkansas: They’ve always had guys that they can spread the ball to,” Ward said.
Clowney doesn’t think it was just a defensive breakdown that led to UT scoring 35 points against USC. He said the emotional circumstances of the game were daunting for USC.
“I think the team wasn’t really focused after that big (knee) injury to Marcus (Lattimore),” Clowney said. “A lot of people were down and not even thinking about the game. I think we’re a little bit more focused for this game and ready to play.”