On going back to OL that bested UGA. http://tinyurl.com/8q6u3by hopefully this group can apply what they know and take care of business. If shaw needs anything this week it's for theses guys to give him a chance. I'd like to see Shell get better and hopefully Cann will leave his heart on the field for this game (and every game for that matter).
South Carolina offensive line coach Shawn Elliott said after Wednesday’s practice that for this Saturday’s home game against Tennessee, he will return to the starters he used in the three games before last week’s loss at Florida (wins over Kentucky and Georgia, and a loss at LSU).
That means A.J. Cann will be back at left guard, after redshirt freshman Kyle Harris replaced him in the starting lineup for Florida. And Corey Robinson will return to the left tackle spot, after Mike Matulis replaced him in Gainesville. Brandon Shell will continue to start at right tackle, Ronald Patrick at right guard and T.J. Johnson at center.
Cann had started every game at left guard since the beginning of last season, when he was a redshirt freshman. But Elliott decided to go with Harris at Florida, in his first career start, though Cann did play as well. And Harris performed about how you’d expect from a redshirt freshman making his first career start against a top defense on the road.
“He didn’t look very good,” Elliott said. “Didn’t look good at all. You won’t see him back out there. Definitely A.J. is back out there.”
So why did Elliott start Harris over Cann?
“I just think there’s times that you try to fuel a fire under somebody to get them better,” Elliott said. “I always felt that A.J. was the man for the job. I just thought that you need to get somebody’s attention at some point. We’ll see if it works. I don’t know. We’ll find out this Saturday.”
It seems the switch back to Robinson at left tackle has more to do with Matulis’ shoulder aching than a poor performance by Matulis against Florida.
“Corey Robinson will be back out there at left tackle,” Elliott said. “Mike Matulis is nursing a shoulder injury right now so I don’t know if he’ll be able to play or not.”
Matulis didn’t start for three games (Kentucky, Georgia, LSU) while dealing with the shoulder – the opposite one from the shoulder that he had offseason surgery on, which forced him to miss spring practices. Before that, Matulis had started the first four games this season – the first and fourth at right tackle, the second and third at left.
“It’s not the same shoulder (that he had surgery on),” Elliott said. “That’s the sorry thing about it. He came back from the shoulder from a year ago and he hurt his other shoulder and now he’s got two bum shoulders. It’s a tough situation for a young man who could be a really good football player. And I hate it from him, so we’ll see how it turns out.”
Brandon Shell, a highly regarded recruit from Goose Creek High, has had an interesting redshirt freshman season. He started the opener against Vanderbilt at left tackle, then moved to backup right tackle for three games, before returning to the starting lineup against Kentucky. The Tennessee game will be his fifth consecutive start, all at right tackle.
“I think he’s been solid,” Elliott said. “He makes the typical mistakes that a young freshman would make, a redshirt freshman would make. But he’s been a pretty solid right tackle. To tell you the truth, I think the center, right guard and right tackle last week were pretty decent. No huge glaring errors. But we can get better, of course, and we’ve got to get better.
“I think we’re a good football team. We’re just not playing very well right now. Hopefully, we’ve corrected some things in practice that we’re going to work on and bring out there Saturday. Hopefully, we’ve got a new attitude, because we had a tough stretch. Just three weeks ago, everybody was patting you on the back, everybody is on your boat and loving on you, and here we are, two weeks later, and everybody is jumping off the ship. So we’ll see if we can right the ship and get back on course.”
USC’s opponents the past two weeks, LSU and Florida, both on the road, had a lot to do with the Gamecocks’ offensive issues and losses in both contests, of course. LSU and Florida are now Nos. 3 and 7 in total defense nationally and Nos. 9 and 10 in rushing defense, after shutting down USC’s running game.
USC, which last won Oct. 6 at home against Georgia, should be able to move the ball against Tennessee, which ranks No. 98 nationally in total defense and No. 91 in rushing defense.
The Volunteers have a strong offensive line, and try to get the ball out of quarterback Tyler Bray’s hands as quickly as possible, so they have allowed just three sacks in seven games, tied for third fewest in the nation.
In terms of sack production, Tennessee ranks No. 96 with 10 in seven games, compared to the Gamecocks, who are third nationally with 29 in eight games. USC has allowed 22 sacks this season, which ranks No. 111 nationally on the list with fewest sacks at the top.
This week is clearly a good chance for Elliott’s linemen to rebound. Will they?
Here now, a look, for some context, at the starting USC offensive lines for every game this season ...
Vanderbilt: LT Shell, LG Cann, C Johnson, RG Patrick, RT Matulis
East Carolina: LT Matulis, LG Cann, C Johnson, RG Patrick, RT Gibson
UAB: LT Matulis, LG Cann, C Johnson, RG Patrick, RT Gibson
Missouri: LT Robinson, LG Cann, C Johnson, RG Patrick, RT Matulis
Kentucky: LT Robinson, LG Cann, C Johnson, RG Patrick, RT Shell
Georgia: LT Robinson, LG Cann, C Johnson, RG Patrick, RT Shell
LSU: LT Robinson, LG Cann, C Johnson, RG Patrick, RT Shell
Florida: LT Matulis, LG Harris, C Johnson, RG Patrick, RT Shell
Tennessee (probable): LT Robinson, LG Cann, C Johnson, RG Patrick, RT Shell
As you can see, Elliott started one line for the Vanderbilt game; then a second for ECU and UAB; a third for Missouri; a fourth for Kentucky, Georgia and LSU; a fifth for Florida; and now back to that fourth line for Tennessee, most likely.
Here is the position-by-position starts breakdown so far, including the likely starters for Tennessee ...
LT – Robinson 5, Matulius 3, Shell 1
LG – Cann 8, Harris 1
C – Johnson 9
RG – Patrick 9
RT – Shell 5, Matulis 2, Gibson 2
South Carolina offensive line coach Shawn Elliott said after Wednesday’s practice that for this Saturday’s home game against Tennessee, he will return to the starters he used in the three games before last week’s loss at Florida (wins over Kentucky and Georgia, and a loss at LSU).
That means A.J. Cann will be back at left guard, after redshirt freshman Kyle Harris replaced him in the starting lineup for Florida. And Corey Robinson will return to the left tackle spot, after Mike Matulis replaced him in Gainesville. Brandon Shell will continue to start at right tackle, Ronald Patrick at right guard and T.J. Johnson at center.
Cann had started every game at left guard since the beginning of last season, when he was a redshirt freshman. But Elliott decided to go with Harris at Florida, in his first career start, though Cann did play as well. And Harris performed about how you’d expect from a redshirt freshman making his first career start against a top defense on the road.
“He didn’t look very good,” Elliott said. “Didn’t look good at all. You won’t see him back out there. Definitely A.J. is back out there.”
So why did Elliott start Harris over Cann?
“I just think there’s times that you try to fuel a fire under somebody to get them better,” Elliott said. “I always felt that A.J. was the man for the job. I just thought that you need to get somebody’s attention at some point. We’ll see if it works. I don’t know. We’ll find out this Saturday.”
It seems the switch back to Robinson at left tackle has more to do with Matulis’ shoulder aching than a poor performance by Matulis against Florida.
“Corey Robinson will be back out there at left tackle,” Elliott said. “Mike Matulis is nursing a shoulder injury right now so I don’t know if he’ll be able to play or not.”
Matulis didn’t start for three games (Kentucky, Georgia, LSU) while dealing with the shoulder – the opposite one from the shoulder that he had offseason surgery on, which forced him to miss spring practices. Before that, Matulis had started the first four games this season – the first and fourth at right tackle, the second and third at left.
“It’s not the same shoulder (that he had surgery on),” Elliott said. “That’s the sorry thing about it. He came back from the shoulder from a year ago and he hurt his other shoulder and now he’s got two bum shoulders. It’s a tough situation for a young man who could be a really good football player. And I hate it from him, so we’ll see how it turns out.”
Brandon Shell, a highly regarded recruit from Goose Creek High, has had an interesting redshirt freshman season. He started the opener against Vanderbilt at left tackle, then moved to backup right tackle for three games, before returning to the starting lineup against Kentucky. The Tennessee game will be his fifth consecutive start, all at right tackle.
“I think he’s been solid,” Elliott said. “He makes the typical mistakes that a young freshman would make, a redshirt freshman would make. But he’s been a pretty solid right tackle. To tell you the truth, I think the center, right guard and right tackle last week were pretty decent. No huge glaring errors. But we can get better, of course, and we’ve got to get better.
“I think we’re a good football team. We’re just not playing very well right now. Hopefully, we’ve corrected some things in practice that we’re going to work on and bring out there Saturday. Hopefully, we’ve got a new attitude, because we had a tough stretch. Just three weeks ago, everybody was patting you on the back, everybody is on your boat and loving on you, and here we are, two weeks later, and everybody is jumping off the ship. So we’ll see if we can right the ship and get back on course.”
USC’s opponents the past two weeks, LSU and Florida, both on the road, had a lot to do with the Gamecocks’ offensive issues and losses in both contests, of course. LSU and Florida are now Nos. 3 and 7 in total defense nationally and Nos. 9 and 10 in rushing defense, after shutting down USC’s running game.
USC, which last won Oct. 6 at home against Georgia, should be able to move the ball against Tennessee, which ranks No. 98 nationally in total defense and No. 91 in rushing defense.
The Volunteers have a strong offensive line, and try to get the ball out of quarterback Tyler Bray’s hands as quickly as possible, so they have allowed just three sacks in seven games, tied for third fewest in the nation.
In terms of sack production, Tennessee ranks No. 96 with 10 in seven games, compared to the Gamecocks, who are third nationally with 29 in eight games. USC has allowed 22 sacks this season, which ranks No. 111 nationally on the list with fewest sacks at the top.
This week is clearly a good chance for Elliott’s linemen to rebound. Will they?
Here now, a look, for some context, at the starting USC offensive lines for every game this season ...
Vanderbilt: LT Shell, LG Cann, C Johnson, RG Patrick, RT Matulis
East Carolina: LT Matulis, LG Cann, C Johnson, RG Patrick, RT Gibson
UAB: LT Matulis, LG Cann, C Johnson, RG Patrick, RT Gibson
Missouri: LT Robinson, LG Cann, C Johnson, RG Patrick, RT Matulis
Kentucky: LT Robinson, LG Cann, C Johnson, RG Patrick, RT Shell
Georgia: LT Robinson, LG Cann, C Johnson, RG Patrick, RT Shell
LSU: LT Robinson, LG Cann, C Johnson, RG Patrick, RT Shell
Florida: LT Matulis, LG Harris, C Johnson, RG Patrick, RT Shell
Tennessee (probable): LT Robinson, LG Cann, C Johnson, RG Patrick, RT Shell
As you can see, Elliott started one line for the Vanderbilt game; then a second for ECU and UAB; a third for Missouri; a fourth for Kentucky, Georgia and LSU; a fifth for Florida; and now back to that fourth line for Tennessee, most likely.
Here is the position-by-position starts breakdown so far, including the likely starters for Tennessee ...
LT – Robinson 5, Matulius 3, Shell 1
LG – Cann 8, Harris 1
C – Johnson 9
RG – Patrick 9
RT – Shell 5, Matulis 2, Gibson 2
Last edited by a moderator: