Now, as No. 17 South Carolina prepares to face Tennessee on Saturday, the Gamecocks’ offensive line coach is going with his gut. USC will start its regular rotation of Brandon Shell and Corey Robinson at tackle, A.J. Cann and Ronald Patrick at guard and T.J. Johnson at center.
Elliott is hoping Cann, a sophomore who had started 20 straight games, will return to the starting lineup re-energized. “I just think there are times you try to fuel the fire in somebody to get them better,” Elliott said. “I always felt like A.J. was the man for the job, but you need to get somebody’s attention at some point. We’ll see if it works. We’ll find out this Saturday.”
Shell disagreed with Elliott that the biggest issue in the past two games was the team across the line of scrimmage. “I think it was on our part,” he said. “We are just trying to do everything better.”
Returning to their roots should help. USC will make a greater commitment to the running game this week, coach Steve Spurrier said, and every offensive lineman likes hearing that.
“Just three weeks ago, everybody is patting you on the back. Everybody is on your boat,” Elliott said. “Now, here we are two weeks later, and everybody is jumping off the boat. So we’ll see if we can right the ship and get back on course.”
Elliott is hoping Cann, a sophomore who had started 20 straight games, will return to the starting lineup re-energized. “I just think there are times you try to fuel the fire in somebody to get them better,” Elliott said. “I always felt like A.J. was the man for the job, but you need to get somebody’s attention at some point. We’ll see if it works. We’ll find out this Saturday.”
Shell disagreed with Elliott that the biggest issue in the past two games was the team across the line of scrimmage. “I think it was on our part,” he said. “We are just trying to do everything better.”
Returning to their roots should help. USC will make a greater commitment to the running game this week, coach Steve Spurrier said, and every offensive lineman likes hearing that.
“Just three weeks ago, everybody is patting you on the back. Everybody is on your boat,” Elliott said. “Now, here we are two weeks later, and everybody is jumping off the boat. So we’ll see if we can right the ship and get back on course.”