South Carolina football: 3 takeaways from the season opener

Key takeaways for South Carolina football

Defense should be much improved

South Carolina’s defense was atrocious last year, allowing 36 points per game despite having three NFL draft picks on the roster. One of those was the first defender off the board in Jaycee Horn, who went seventh overall to the Carolina Panthers.

New defensive coordinator Clayton White is employing his 4-2-5 scheme and he’s got the Gamecocks attacking at a high level to start the season. South Carolina surrendered just 109 total yards to the Panthers last weekend, keeping the Eastern Illinois offense from reaching pay dirt.

South Carolina picked off two passes, returning one for a score. They also racked up a couple sacks and held the Panthers’ rushing attack to just 31 yards on 22 attempts, a total of 1.4 yards per carry.

While the performance was a welcomed sight, the task gets tougher next weekend. East Carolina quarterback Holton Ahlers threw for nearly 300 yards against Appalachian State last weekend, and it could’ve been more had a first half Hail Mary completion not been overturned.

South Carolina’s secondary will get its first true test with the Pirates having a veteran signal caller and a host of talented receivers. The Gamecocks’ back end is still very much unproven outside of cornerback Cam Smith, and the Pirates could feast in the passing game if South Carolina defensive backs can’t keep up with their pass catchers.

What should help the Gamecocks is a strong pass rush, led by potential first-rounder Kingsley Enagbare. The defensive front needs to create pressure and force the Pirates into bad decisions. Turnovers could be key in what’s lining up to be a close game. The unit is confident after a great week one performance, but it needs to continue improving if the Gamecocks want to have a successful season.