The South Carolina football team will hit the road for an SEC matchup for the third time this month as Will Muschamp will lead his team into battle in Lexington, Kentucky, Saturday night against the Kentucky Wildcats.
Muschamp opened his press conference Tuesday with praise for Kentucky coach Mark Stoops, who he referred to as a "really good friend." The first-year head coach also added that he coached with Kentucky offensive coordinator Eddie Gran at Auburn in 2006 and 2007, saying that Gran "does a fantastic job offensively."
As far as Gran's weapons on offense, Muschamp was impressed with the play of Stephen Johnson when the junior took over for Drew Barker in last week's win, but he says the Gamecocks are preparing for both quarterbacks. According to The State's David Cloninger, the Gamecocks used Lorenzo Nunez to emulate Johnson and Danny Gordon to prepare for Barker during Tuesday's practice.
Kentucky's true offensive strength is in the backfield, where the Wildcats feature both Stanley "Boom" Williams and Jojo Kemp. Kemp, who missed last week's game, has struggled this season, averaging under two yards per carry, but has reached the end zone twice. Williams is averaging just under 115 rushing yards per game thus far, and will likely be the lead back Saturday.
The Wildcats have run the ball far more than they've thrown it this season, which should be a contrast for the Gamecocks, who saw ECU's Philip Nelson throw 58 passes in Williams-Brice just a few days ago. Muschamp spoke Tuesday to the difficulty of adjusting the game plan to a different offensive system every week.
"Defensively, you go from playing a team that’s going to go up-tempo and snap it as many times as they can and throw it all over the field," Muschamp said. "This week, we play a team that is up-tempo and that likes to run it a lot."
"Every week there is something new you have to face. In five days you have to completely switch gears defensively. That’s the hardest thing we face week-to-week,” he added.
There will be some consistency on offense however, as freshman Brandon McIlwain is the starting quarterback for the foreseeable future. After the early-enrollee ran for a pair of touchdowns last week while earning a victory in his first start, Muschamp has some confidence in his quarterback, and he has no plans to make the switch back to senior Perry Orth.
"I don’t expect (Brandon) to struggle," Muschamp said. "I expect him to play well and that’s what our plan is going into the game.”
That confidence may have not extended to running back David Williams, even after the junior led the team with 67 rushing yards against the Pirates last week. The feud between Williams and the coaching staff has been well-documented since the start of fall camp in August, but his experience showed in last week's breakout game. Muschamp was hesitant to give him the nod over A.J. Turner, however.
"We don’t need to be one-hit wonders around here," Muschamp said when asked about Williams' performance. "We need to do it consistently well all the time.”
Muschamp also provided an injury update on several players, including sophomore wide receiver Deebo Samuel. He elaborated on what he said after Saturday's game, saying that Samuel's hamstring injury is a lingering issue that dates back to high school, and that the Inman native likely could've played, but Muschamp played it safe.
In other news, Muschamp said linebacker Skai Moore is making progress in recovering from his neck injury and that fellow linebacker Larenz Bryant is progressing as well and that the team hopes to get him back in the "next couple weeks."
Freshman running back Rico Dowdle could also be in the mix as soon as this week, and Muschamp isn't afraid to get the four-star recruit playing time right away.
“I’m hoping, in about a week, to get him back to practice,” Muschamp said. “We plan on playing him if he gets back.”