South Carolina Football: The ugly truth about the Gamecock defense

South Carolina football fans almost universally agree that the Gamecocks have been unacceptably bad on the defensive side of the football for most of the 2023 season. However, upon further inspection, there is reason to believe that the situation on defense is even worse than many fans think.

The Gamecocks have not had a good game on the defensive side of the football all season. Sure, for stretches against Furman and Georgia, defensive coordinator Clayton White’s unit looked fine. However, USC has played six games in 2023, and the defense has been below-average at its best and downright abysmal at its worst when one looks at the totality of each game.

Many South Carolina football fans are calling for head coach Shane Beamer to fire White, and if things don’t improve drastically down the stretch, there doesn’t seem to be a realistic scenario that doesn’t result in White looking for a new job. However, it is extremely doubtful that Beamer will let White go before the offseason.

When the Marcus Satterfield era was (very obviously) over, Beamer still held onto the former Gamecock offensive coordinator until the offseason. Satterfield “left” for a new job at Nebraska, but there was a 0% chance that he was going to be the offensive coordinator in Columbia in 2023.

It would stand to reason that it would be Shane Beamer’s preference to have the same thing happen for White. If he “takes another job” within a week or so of the regular season’s end, fans can read between the lines just as they did with Satterfield.

However, all of the talk about White’s status as a potential lame-duck defensive coordinator doesn’t matter yet.

The Gamecocks still have six games in the 2023 regular season to try to fight for an unlikely bowl game invitation. For that to happen, the defense must be better.

Before trying to figure out how the defense can improve (if it can), let’s take a look at the facts surrounding the Gamecock D.

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.

    

    South Carolina Football’s Defense:
    The Personnel

    One of the most ridiculous aspects of the Gamecocks’ defensive struggles this season is that the unit has some talented individual players.

    Freshman safety Jalon Kilgore and redshirt sophomore defensive lineman TJ Sanders have been pretty good the entirety of this season.

    Players like Debo Williams, Nick Emmanwori, Boogie Huntley, Tonka Hemingway, and Marcellas Dial have had multiple games in which they performed well.

    O’Donnell Fortune, DQ Smith, David Spaulding, Jordan Strachan, and Stone Blanton have all had some big moments and/or long stretches of solid play.

    However, even with all of those things being true, the Gamecocks have not been good on defense. Some of this has been the product of underperforming players, and some of this has been the product of misuse of players.

    Frankly, there have been times this season when players the Gamecocks were counting on have not played well enough. Marcellas Dial has had games when he was very good in coverage but has also been completely lost at other times. The same is true for his running mate at corner O’Donnell Fortune.

    Linebacker Debo Williams and defensive back DQ Smith have had some really good moments and some really poor moments.

    Linebacker Stone Blanton has struggled for much of the year, and the entire defensive end position has been a void of non-productivity except for a few drives from Jordan Strachan.

    However, despite all of that, the positional usage of the Gamecock players might be the most glaring issue with personnel.

    The nickel spot has been horrible all season against the pass (other than a pretty good half from KaJuan Banks against North Carolina). Keenan Nelson struggled and then got hurt. Banks hasn’t played much after his appearance in the first game.

    Safeties DQ Smith, David Spaulding, and Nick Emmanwori have gotten the rest of the nickel snaps this season, and those guys are not man coverage defensive backs. Yet, they continue to be utilized in man coverage.

    Opposing teams have taken a basketball approach and gone “matchup hunting,” repeatedly moving their best receivers inside since Clayton White still has not adjusted. Smith and Emmanwori are really good tacklers and run support players, and they have their moments in zone coverage. But playing a role they shouldn’t be asked to play, they’ve struggled in man.

    In the Gamecocks’ last three games (Mississippi State, @ Tennessee, and Florida), receivers Tulu Griffin (MSU), Squirrel White (UT), Ricky Pearsall (UF), and Tre Wilson (UF) dominated from the slot. While not playing every snap in the slot, those four receivers each played the majority of their snaps inside and combined for 509 yards against South Carolina in those three games.

    TJ Sanders, the Gamecocks’ best defensive lineman this season, has only been a sometimes-starter and doesn’t play enough snaps despite his and Tonka Hemingway’s versatility to play inside or outside; with Carolina’s struggles at end, sliding one of them outside should happen more often than it does.

    White has become pretty blitz-heavy due to the defensive line’s inability to create pressure on opposing quarterbacks (just 2.5 sacks from EDGE rushers). However, those blitzes haven’t made it home very often (also 2.5 sacks from blitzing linebackers and secondary players).

    In fact, there have been plenty of times this season when a blitzer has missed an opportunity to make a play. When that happens, there is a hole somewhere in the defense, and the Gamecocks have surrendered a large number of failed-blitzes-turned-big-gains this season.

    Another major personnel usage issue comes with the linebackers. Neither Debo Williams nor Stone Blanton are very good in coverage. Yet, they usually play together and are often left in charge of covering the middle of the field in obvious passing situations. Just like the safeties being asked to man up on receivers as pseudo-nickels, this is not putting the players on defense in the best situation to succeed.

    

    South Carolina Football’s Defense:
    The Horrible Moments

    The Gamecock defense has been bad. However, they’ve been even worse when it matters most. If “clutch defense” was a quantifiable stat in college football, USC would rank near the bottom in the college football world.

    For example, just this past week against Florida, South Carolina gave up three 4th down conversions to the Gators on UF’s final two touchdown drives, including a 4th-and-10 and a 4th-and-11. On the 4th and 11, a blitzing defensive back had a free run at quarterback Graham Mertz. Instead of sacking the Gator QB and sealing the game, he fell down, and Florida converted. On the 4th-and-10, the Gamecocks had a chance to tackle the receiver behind the line of scrimmage but whiffed and gave up the conversion.

    Also in the Florida game, right before the half, the Gators picked up a field goal with a drive that took less than 1 1/2 minutes. Those 3 points were huge in a close game.

    Against Mississippi State, the defense gave up over 550 yards of offense. Almost half of those yards came on 7 Tulu Griffin catches. Four of the longest catches from Griffin flipped momentum momentarily as they immediately followed a Carolina score and set up a Bulldog answer (one catch was the drive’s scoring play).

    Against both North Carolina and Georgia, when the games were still very much competitive, the Gamecock defense had 13 men on the field at the goal line but still surrendered a touchdown run in each situation as almost no one wearing garnet and black was ready at the snap.

    

    South Carolina Football’s Defense:
    What’s Next?

    The Gamecocks are in danger of 2023 becoming a completely lost season. Reaching the 6-win bowl-eligibility threshold will be very difficult, and if the Gamecocks can’t get to some form of postseason play, then every bit of the defensive focus has to shift to future development.

    The future starts with the young players on the roster. Freshmen and sophomores like Jalon Kilgore, Nick Emmanwori, DQ Smith, TJ Sanders, Stone Blanton, and Pup Howard are already playing a role for the defense. Improvement is imperative, but the coaching staff figuring out the correct manner to use these players will be important moving forward.

    Emmanwori and Smith can’t be nickel players next year. They are safeties (or maybe even linebackers). Stone Blanton, Pup Howard, and Desmond Umeozulu are talented but have to be developed more.

    Other young players on the roster have to be developed, as well. Xzavier McLeod, Vicari Swain, Keenan Nelson, KaJuan Banks, Emory Floyd, and Judge Collier could be major contributors in the future.

    Recruiting has gone well on defense in the 2024 cycle. 5-star EDGE Dylan Stewart, 4-star corner Braydon Lee, 4-star safety Kelvin Hunter, 4-star linebacker Fred “JayR” Johnson, 4-star linebacker/EDGE Wendell Gregory, and 4-star athlete Jalewis Solomon are all blue chip defenders committed in the class.

    Fans always have one eye on the future, but if things don’t get better in a hurry this season, the Gamecock Faithful will have both eyes turned in that direction soon.