USC hopes to correct Vandy gaffes against pass-happy ECU
South Carolina’s season-opening win against Vanderbilt last week left some fans of the nation’s No. 9 team feeling a little less comfortable about the Gamecocks’ secondary.
Despite a solid USC pass rush that produced five sacks, the secondary allowed 214 passing yards — 147 to Jordan Matthews — before hanging on by breaking up a last-gasp pass by the Commodores.
With three new starters — cornerbacks Jimmy Legree and Victor Hampton and safety Brison Williams — the secondary must face the challenge of an East Carolina team that utilizes four wideouts in their pass-happy spread offense. The Pirates averaged 44 passes and 288 yards per game last season and threw 43 times for 242 yards in a season-opening 35-13 win against Appalachian State.
USC secondary coach Grady Brown said his players have their work cut out for them against ECU.
“You definitely need to be in position to play well on the deep ball,” Brown said. “You’ve got to do a good job on playing the perimeter screen. You’ve got to come up and make tackles and get off blocks. You’ve definitely got to be ready for the up-tempo offense. You can be lackadaisical in getting lined up. You’ve got to be in a hurry to get to your side of the field and echo the call.”
The Gamecocks suffered a couple of breakdowns that resulted in Vanderbilt scores last week. The biggest one came in the second quarter when Matthews caught a pass from Jordan Rodgers. After Brison Williams whiffed on the tackle, Matthews turned it into a 78-yard touchdown play.
“(Williams) was in position,” Brown said. “He has just got to finish the deal and go make the play.”
The Gamecocks then allowed a 32-yard pass in the second quarter that set up Vanderbilt’s game-tying field goal. .
Brown said the secondary has been working this week on correcting mistakes.
“That’s why we practice. You get a chance to go out and correct your mistakes. We’ve been working on it,” he said. “Those guys are good players, and they do a good job of doing what they’ve been coached to do. We’ll make those plays this weekend.”
But things weren’t all bad. Legree stepped up to make seven tackles. Williams had four tackles and a sack. Senior safety D.J. Swearinger, the leader of the unit who racked up 80 tackles last season, had four against the Commodores and broke up the game’s final pass.
“It was a decent game in a lot of folks’ eyes, but in my eyes, I feel like I’ve got to play a whole lot better,” Swearinger said. “We’ve got to play great as a defense. We had times out there when we were walking around and not getting lined up. We’re taking that to heart this week, and we’re going to get better at that. It will be better playing an up-tempo team.”
Except for the one long touchdown play, Legree believes said the secondary did a solid job of tackling, something the unit has made a focus in practices.
“Coach Brown, being a new coach, we did tackling drills every day,” Legree said. “That’s not something we really did in the past so that helped me out a lot.”
The Gamecocks must be ready to wrap up receivers quickly. East Carolina’s quick-strike passing game relies as much on chewing up short yardage by throwing side-to-side as it does stretching the field. In last season’s 56-37 loss to USC, the Pirates completed 37-of-56 passes for 260 yards and four touchdowns. “We are going to have to focus better, play our assignment, be on the same page, play sound defense,” Legree said. “We have seen a little bit of (ECU). It’s going to be a challenge, but I am ready for it.”
Hampton, his fellow corner, feels the same way.
“We’ve just got to buckle down and make sure we’re there every play,” he said.
South Carolina’s season-opening win against Vanderbilt last week left some fans of the nation’s No. 9 team feeling a little less comfortable about the Gamecocks’ secondary.
Despite a solid USC pass rush that produced five sacks, the secondary allowed 214 passing yards — 147 to Jordan Matthews — before hanging on by breaking up a last-gasp pass by the Commodores.
With three new starters — cornerbacks Jimmy Legree and Victor Hampton and safety Brison Williams — the secondary must face the challenge of an East Carolina team that utilizes four wideouts in their pass-happy spread offense. The Pirates averaged 44 passes and 288 yards per game last season and threw 43 times for 242 yards in a season-opening 35-13 win against Appalachian State.
USC secondary coach Grady Brown said his players have their work cut out for them against ECU.
“You definitely need to be in position to play well on the deep ball,” Brown said. “You’ve got to do a good job on playing the perimeter screen. You’ve got to come up and make tackles and get off blocks. You’ve definitely got to be ready for the up-tempo offense. You can be lackadaisical in getting lined up. You’ve got to be in a hurry to get to your side of the field and echo the call.”
The Gamecocks suffered a couple of breakdowns that resulted in Vanderbilt scores last week. The biggest one came in the second quarter when Matthews caught a pass from Jordan Rodgers. After Brison Williams whiffed on the tackle, Matthews turned it into a 78-yard touchdown play.
“(Williams) was in position,” Brown said. “He has just got to finish the deal and go make the play.”
The Gamecocks then allowed a 32-yard pass in the second quarter that set up Vanderbilt’s game-tying field goal. .
Brown said the secondary has been working this week on correcting mistakes.
“That’s why we practice. You get a chance to go out and correct your mistakes. We’ve been working on it,” he said. “Those guys are good players, and they do a good job of doing what they’ve been coached to do. We’ll make those plays this weekend.”
But things weren’t all bad. Legree stepped up to make seven tackles. Williams had four tackles and a sack. Senior safety D.J. Swearinger, the leader of the unit who racked up 80 tackles last season, had four against the Commodores and broke up the game’s final pass.
“It was a decent game in a lot of folks’ eyes, but in my eyes, I feel like I’ve got to play a whole lot better,” Swearinger said. “We’ve got to play great as a defense. We had times out there when we were walking around and not getting lined up. We’re taking that to heart this week, and we’re going to get better at that. It will be better playing an up-tempo team.”
Except for the one long touchdown play, Legree believes said the secondary did a solid job of tackling, something the unit has made a focus in practices.
“Coach Brown, being a new coach, we did tackling drills every day,” Legree said. “That’s not something we really did in the past so that helped me out a lot.”
The Gamecocks must be ready to wrap up receivers quickly. East Carolina’s quick-strike passing game relies as much on chewing up short yardage by throwing side-to-side as it does stretching the field. In last season’s 56-37 loss to USC, the Pirates completed 37-of-56 passes for 260 yards and four touchdowns. “We are going to have to focus better, play our assignment, be on the same page, play sound defense,” Legree said. “We have seen a little bit of (ECU). It’s going to be a challenge, but I am ready for it.”
Hampton, his fellow corner, feels the same way.
“We’ve just got to buckle down and make sure we’re there every play,” he said.