Beamer evaluates South Carolina's perimeter blocking and why it needs to be better
If there’s anything that irked Shane Beamer after South Carolina’s win over Old Dominion, perimeter blocking was certainly at the top of the list.
Despite rushing for nearly 175 yards on the ground, Beamer was displeased with the run blocking from his pass catchers. He made it clear, “if you’re going to play receiver here, you’ve got to block. And if you’re going to play tight end here and you’re not in the passing game, you’ve got to block.”
Ironically enough, Pro Football Focus three highest run blocking grades in South Carolina’s opener were all given to wide receivers. Payton Mangrum, Vandrevius Jacobs and Mazeo Bennett all finished with grades of 73 or higher.
[Join GamecockCentral for in-depth Gamecock coverage and The Insiders Forum]
But it doesn’t make up for the lack of blocking from others. Most of the receivers/tight ends’ grades were in the mid 60s or lower. With a few days to watch the tape, Beamer boiled these issues down to execution and scheme.
“I would say there were some schematic things that we didn’t quite execute like we needed to as far as going in there and digging out defensive backs uh in the box that receivers have to,” Beamer said. “There were some times that the look kind of got cloudy and we didn’t quite end up on the right person — that was a part of it. There were also times where we didn’t go in there with quite the intent, the strain that we needed to.”
With a new-look offense, South Carolina put a heavy emphasis on running the football. The Gamecocks ran the ball 56 times but only averaged just over three yards per carry. But it could’ve been more with some more blocking from receivers/tight ends.
“We knew coming into the game perimeter was going to a key. We needed to lock the perimeter down,” said Jared Brown, who finished with a 62.4 run blocking grade. “Really no comment for that.”
[Win two tickets to the South Carolina-LSU football game]
Heading into the team’s first SEC game against Kentucky this weekend, Beamer knows the perimeter blocking must be better. He did point out there were times when it was good, specifically from Bennett. The freshman receiver made his college debut this past Saturday and earned a 73.8 run blocking grade in the win. Now, it’s just about making sure everyone else can give the same type of effort, which is what it comes down to.
“He competed his rear end off in the perimeter blocking game and being willing to come down into the box and take on people in the box,” Beamer said of Bennett’s performance. “We need more of that. I think a lot of times we were in the right place. We just didn’t execute with the best technique or the intent to get things done that it took on that one.”
