The added emphasis during preseason camp on creating turnovers paid huge dividends Saturday afternoon in South Carolina’s 48-10 victory against East Carolina.
The Gamecocks forced five turnovers, including Jimmy Legree’s interception return for a touchdown, and helped turn the game into a rout.
“We are creatures of habit and, when you practice it, that’s what they’ll revert back to,” defensive coordinator Lorenzo Ward said of trying to force turnovers. “We try and teach them the fundamentals of taking the football. We’d like to have interceptions but we can create turnovers by taking the ball.”
East Carolina had all five giveaways in a 16-play stretch that started at the end of the second quarter and carried into the third quarter. The Gamecocks turned two of the miscues into points, including Legree’s first career interception that he returned 34 yards for a touchdown to stretch the lead to 35-0 with more than 12 minutes remaining in the third quarter..
Even though the Pirates threw for 333 yards and finished with 403 total yards, the Gamecocks limited their scoring opportunities. Ward liked what he saw, especially from the first-team defense.
“I thought overall, especially the first defense, I thought played well,” Ward said. “They got some junk yardage in with the young guys but we need to get them experience.”
The second consecutive steady performance from Legree might be easing some fears as well.
Linebacker Shaq Wilson had another of the four USC interceptions. Brison Williams and D.J. Swearinger added picks as well to give the Gamecocks seven forced turnovers in the first two games.
“We were trying to execute what we do and keep them off the field as fast as we could to get the ball back in Dylan’s (Thompson) hands,” Wilson said. “Everything coach Ward, coach (Kirk) Botkin and coach (Brad) Lawing gave us, we used in the game. We went out and executed the best we could and got a lot of turnovers.”
The five turnovers were a sore subject with East Carolina coach Ruffin McNeill. But he didn’t hedge when asked about the South Carolina defense.
“The better team won today. We got beat by a definite Top 10 team, I voted them No. 8 last week,” McNeill said. “It was a mismatch for us. We didn’t help ourselves with turnovers. Against a great team like South Carolina, they don’t need our help. Their defense has length, they have speed. They did a great job. Opportunistic sort of defines their (defense).” http://www.gogamecocks.com/2012/09/08/279521/usc-defenses-takeaways-turn-the.html
The Gamecocks forced five turnovers, including Jimmy Legree’s interception return for a touchdown, and helped turn the game into a rout.
“We are creatures of habit and, when you practice it, that’s what they’ll revert back to,” defensive coordinator Lorenzo Ward said of trying to force turnovers. “We try and teach them the fundamentals of taking the football. We’d like to have interceptions but we can create turnovers by taking the ball.”
East Carolina had all five giveaways in a 16-play stretch that started at the end of the second quarter and carried into the third quarter. The Gamecocks turned two of the miscues into points, including Legree’s first career interception that he returned 34 yards for a touchdown to stretch the lead to 35-0 with more than 12 minutes remaining in the third quarter..
Even though the Pirates threw for 333 yards and finished with 403 total yards, the Gamecocks limited their scoring opportunities. Ward liked what he saw, especially from the first-team defense.
“I thought overall, especially the first defense, I thought played well,” Ward said. “They got some junk yardage in with the young guys but we need to get them experience.”
The second consecutive steady performance from Legree might be easing some fears as well.
Linebacker Shaq Wilson had another of the four USC interceptions. Brison Williams and D.J. Swearinger added picks as well to give the Gamecocks seven forced turnovers in the first two games.
“We were trying to execute what we do and keep them off the field as fast as we could to get the ball back in Dylan’s (Thompson) hands,” Wilson said. “Everything coach Ward, coach (Kirk) Botkin and coach (Brad) Lawing gave us, we used in the game. We went out and executed the best we could and got a lot of turnovers.”
The five turnovers were a sore subject with East Carolina coach Ruffin McNeill. But he didn’t hedge when asked about the South Carolina defense.
“The better team won today. We got beat by a definite Top 10 team, I voted them No. 8 last week,” McNeill said. “It was a mismatch for us. We didn’t help ourselves with turnovers. Against a great team like South Carolina, they don’t need our help. Their defense has length, they have speed. They did a great job. Opportunistic sort of defines their (defense).” http://www.gogamecocks.com/2012/09/08/279521/usc-defenses-takeaways-turn-the.html