Report card from South Carolina football’s ugly win over the Old Dominion Monarchs
In a win Shane Beamer called “awful,” the Gamecocks didn’t look their best against Old Dominion.
South Carolina Football vs. Old Dominion:
Grades for the Coaches, Fans, and Special Teams
FANS
South Carolina Gamecocks vs. Old Dominion Monarchs | It looked like South Carolina football fans were in line for a good grade on Saturday. A sold out crowd was loud and excited after an early touchdown put the Gamecocks ahead. However, after a brief “lightning” delay in which the sun was out and no rain fell from the sky, a shocking number of fans left the stadium and didn’t return.
COACHING
South Carolina Gamecocks vs. Old Dominion Monarchs | Frankly, Saturday’s win over ODU was one of the worst-coached games (if not the worst) during the Shane Beamer era in Columbia. Offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains didn’t call a good game, and in clock-wasting at the end of the 1st half, he called runs for quarterback LaNorris Sellers that allowed him to get hit unnecessarily. Defensive coordinator Clayton White’s unit played pretty well most of the game, but when things started to go sideways in the 3rd quarter, he didn’t make any adjustments. He finally shifted to the 3-3-5 (the formation he should have been using all day), and the team generated two stops to seal the game. Specials teams was fine other than an inexplicable whiff from the up-backs that resulted in a blocked punt. A few head coaching decisions were head-scratching, as well, including declining a penalty that would have put ODU behind the sticks in 2nd-and-17.
SPECIAL TEAMS
South Carolina Gamecocks vs. Old Dominion Monarchs | The first game for special teams coordinator Joe DeCamillis was a mixed bag. On one hand, DeAndre Jules blocked an extra point and another Gamecock tipped a field goal try (one that still went over the crossbar). On the other hand, the Gamecocks allowed a punt to get blocked because the up-backs just didn’t block a rusher straight up the middle. A beautiful fake field goal would have resulted in a touchdown, but a lineman drifted too far upfield, negating the score thanks to the resulting flag. Juju McDowell showed some juice as a returner but also had a head-scratching decision to field a punt at the 5-yard line with defenders in his face. Alex Herrera made 3/4 field goals in his starting debut. Overall, the effort wasn’t bad, but it was a couple of mental mistakes away from being excellent.
QUARTERBACK
South Carolina Gamecocks vs. Old Dominion Monarchs | LaNorris Sellers’ starting debut didn’t go as expected. The redshirt freshman seemed jittery most of the game, he missed open receivers (both with inaccurate throws and by not seeing the open men altogether), and he was too quick to scramble at times. Things looked a little better for Sellers late in the game, so Gamecock fans are hopeful that he will continue showing some improvement. His saving grace in this game was that he didn’t throw any interceptions, and he was a decent help to the run game.
RUNNING BACK
South Carolina Gamecocks vs. Old Dominion Monarchs | Had it not been for poor offensive line play, the running backs would have had a better day against Old Dominion. Even still, Rocket Sanders showed some impressive ability and proved that he is as healthy as claimed this offseason. Juju McDowell helped out a little, and Oscar Adaway appears to be the other back who will get involved behind Sanders.
Before the late-game kneel downs, USC had nearly 200 yards rushing, and the running backs had over 100 of those yards even with the team’s struggles blocking.
WIDE RECEIVER
South Carolina Gamecocks vs. Old Dominion Monarchs | The Gamecock wide receiver room didn’t do a lot, but it hard to determine where their struggles stopped and where the rest of the offense’s struggles began. Vandrevius Jacobs had a nice play (a 41-yard catch-and-run that was the team’s longest play), but no other players had more than 18 yards receiving. Blocking on the perimeter was awful (a major negative), but the lack of overall statistical production was less the fault of the wideouts than it was of play-calling, offensive line play, and quarterback decision-making,
TIGHT END
South Carolina Gamecocks vs. Old Dominion Monarchs | In what was a lackluster performance from the Gamecock tight ends, Josh Simon, Brady Hunt, and Michael Smith (three good football players) combined for 3 catches and 14 yards. Brady Hunt had a bad drop, and none of the tight ends got open much. Blocking was bad all around on the offense, including from the tight end position. This unit will be better moving forward; they are too good not to be.
OFFENSIVE LINE
South Carolina Gamecocks vs. Old Dominion Monarchs | The Gamecocks weren’t very good up front on the offensive line against Old Dominion. Run blocking wasn’t good, and pass protection was inconsistent. Three of the team’s four sacks allowed came due to mental errors, something that gave the PTSD-scarred South Carolina football fanbase some unwanted flashbacks to last season. If the offensive line isn’t better, the Gamecock offense will remain as underwhelming as it was on Saturday.
DEFENSIVE LINE
South Carolina Gamecocks vs. Old Dominion Monarchs | Clayton White’s defense was pretty good against the Monarchs, and the defensive line was the best part of the defense. EDGE players Kyle Kennard and Dylan Stewart were flat-out dominant, combining for 6 tackles for loss, 4 sacks, and 4 forced fumbles in the game. Defensive tackles TJ Sanders, Tonka Hemingway, DeAndre Jules, and Boogie Huntley had solid flashes, and Jules blocked an extra point. In all, both in the 4-2-5 and the 3-3-5, Travian Robertson’s and Sterling Lucas’ units were excellent
LINEBACKERS
South Carolina Gamecocks vs. Old Dominion Monarchs | If there is one word to describe the season debut of the South Carolina Gamecocks’ linebackers, it would be “solid.” Debo Williams led the way with 7 tackles,. and he and Demetrius Knight had the two biggest hits of the game. There was nothing spectacular or flashy about the ‘backers in this game
but they did their job well. Williams also added a fumble recovery, and Bam Martin-Scott knocked away a pass..
SECONDARY
South Carolina Gamecocks vs. Old Dominion Monarchs | The Gamecock defensive backs had a solid showing in Williams-Brice Stadium on Saturday. Safety DQ Smith was bad (had just 1 total tackle, surrendered a 72-yard touchdown pass over the top, and missed a tackle on a 36-yard quarterback draw that also went for a score), but the rest of the starters were pretty good. Nick Emmanwori had a good day of tackling and did his part against the pass. At corner, O’Donnell Fortune and Judge Collier were solid in coverage, and Fortune and nickel Jalon Kilgore picked up timely interceptions. If Torrian Gray’s group plays this well, and DQ Smith shows some improvement, the defense will be one of the better ones in the S
