Cam Smith leads veterans back for South Carolina defense
After treading water for almost two full games, South Carolina defense finally got a few of its key players back against Charlotte.
Headlined by potential early draft pick Cam Smith, the Gamecocks got a wealth of starters back against Charlotte and ahead of the South Carolina State game this Thursday.
The defense still isn’t back to full strength, but did show flashes of what it could be in the second half of the Charlotte game.
“When you don’t play a game with two guys that are NFL-type corners in Darius Rush and Cam, it’s going to hurt anybody and it certainly didn’t help us as well,” Shane Beamer said.
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After a sluggish start individually and as a defense, Smith returned in a big way for the South Carolina defense against Charlotte. He tallied one tackle and had picked off a pass for the first time this season.
Charlotte was a glimpse of the Cam Smith of 2021. Smith was graded 74.9 by Pro Football Focus, his highest grade of the year so far.
“It was great, it’s always good to get back in Willy-B and stuff like that,” Smith said. “Coming off of that two weeks where I wasn’t really doing anything, I have to just get my conditioning back and get back into midseason form.”
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Smith’s vocal impact is what is so special about him. He is a leader on the defense and it was visible Saturday against Charlotte. The defense was still missing a few pieces, but that was no issue because of Smith’s veteran presence.
“To get those guys back one they’re really good players, two the depth on the defense, and three I think it’ll help with the communication on defense because you’re not out there with as many true freshmen,” Beamer said.
With Smith back, the defense generated their first turnovers since week one against Charlotte. Turnovers come in bunches and are a key part of swinging momentum. Smith says that morale ramps up when the entire defense does their job to get the stop.
“It builds it really high, just making sure we’re getting hands-on balls and stuff like that and just knowing that our big dudes are going go and rush the quarterback and go get us tips,” Smith said. “We’re going to come down with them so it really just builds a bond throughout the whole defense that we know we’re going to get a turnover.”
If South Carolina can continue to force turnovers Thursday against SC State, the momentum will carry into Kentucky week five. Rush and Smith coming back will allow the duo to get back into a rhythm defensively as quickly as possible.
