South Carolina Football: The ugly truth about the Gamecock defense

South Carolina Football’s Defense:
The Statistics

South Carolina’s defense has stunk for most of the year. One of the most unfortunate facts surrounding the Gamecocks’ struggles is that there hasn’t been just one primary issue.

Sure, continuing to line up an out-of-position safety at nickel over and over again is maddening when those safeties continue to get beaten in man coverage. However, USC has had games in which the pass defense wasn’t bad. They’ve had games in which the run defense wasn’t bad. They’ve had games in which they couldn’t get a stop on the ground. They’ve had games in which they couldn’t cover anyone in the passing game.

The season-long statistics are pretty depressing for South Carolina football fans:

***Stats compiled from NCAA.com and SportsReference.com.

• The Gamecocks rank 130th out of 130 Division-1 FBS teams in passing yards allowed per game. That’s dead last in the entire country at 322 yards per game allowed through the air. The historically bad defense of the Coach Prime-led Colorado Buffaloes that blew a 29-0 halftime lead gives up fewer yards through the air than the Gamecocks do.
  • USC has allowed at least 239 yards passing in every game this season (including against Furman), and they have had two 400+ yard performances go against them.
• The Gamecocks have been better against the run, ranking 55th in the country in rushing yardage prevention. However, they haven’t been good. That 55th spot in the rankings still comes with an ugly 167 yards allowed per game mark against FBS opponents with winning records. They’ve also given up 12 rushing touchdowns through 6 games.
  • While South Carolina football fans were happy with the run defense against Mississippi State (allowed just 32 yards to the Bulldogs on the ground), Mississippi State has proven itself to be a bad football team and still dominated the Gamecock secondary through the air. Against the three good teams on the schedule (Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee), USC has surrendered 596 yards on the ground.
• In total defense, Carolina comes in at 121st in the country, allowing 452 yards per game. Just nine teams (and just one from the Power-5) allow more total yards per night than Clayton White’s defense.
  • The garnet and black defense has allowed at least 437 yards in all five of their games against FBS opponents. They have also allowed at least 5.8 yards per play in those games.
• The Gamecocks rank 82nd nationally in 3rd down percentage on defense, letting opposing offenses convert at over a 40% clip. That number is worse on 4th down as Carolina ranks 101st in America, giving up over a 38% success rate on the most predictable down in football.
• South Carolina football ranks 78th in sacks with just 13 across six games. 2.5 of those have come from blitzing players. Only 2.5 have come from EDGE players.
• The Gamecocks have allowed an embarrassing 89% of opponents’ drives that enter the red zone to score. That is tied for 103rd in the nation.
• USC has forced just seven total turnovers. One is a forced and recovered fumble. That is the lowest amount of recovered fumbles in the country.
• The ‘Cock defense is letting their opponents move the chains for a 1st down on 33% of their snaps. When including scoring plays, South Carolina football’s D is allowing opponents to get a 1st down or score (via touchdown or field goal) on a whopping 40% of their snaps.
• Dating back to last year’s game against Florida, South Carolina football has given up 30 or more points in 8 of their last 9 games against Power-5 competition. The Gamecocks have lost 6 of those 9 games.