Clayton White reflects on defensive performance against Alabama ahead of Oklahoma
As South Carolina fell to No. 7 Alabama on the road, the team was left with areas to improve. Defensive coordinator Clayton White touched on some areas where the defense fell short and how they plan to improve ahead of another SEC road matchup at Oklahoma.
White recapped the good, the bad and the ugly from the Alabama loss. For South Carolina, the first struggle started early on with the Tide scoring on the opening drive of the game.
“Our job is to critique ourselves and obviously analyze and emphasize things that we try to get better at,” White said. “Obviously the opening drive they go down and score a touchdown. That’s not a way you want to start on the road.”
After Alabama jumped out to a 14-0 lead, the Gamecocks started to lock in and play much better from that point on. But they couldn’t keep the lid on that offense, especially in the fourth quarter. Moving forward in SEC play, the defense will have to tighten up coverage.
“I want to say obviously the finish, we blew a coverage, we didn’t finish the game, scored 13 points in the fourth quarter,” White said. “So those are things that you’re probably not going to win SEC games when you give up two touchdowns in the fourth quarter.”
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Another area of needed improvement is tackles. Alabama’s defense recorded 81 total tackles compared to 65 tackles for South Carolina. Facing Oklahoma, the defense will look to focus on one play at a time.
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“It’s all three phases first and foremost,” White said. “But obviously I have a chance to speak to our guys about how we need to play the game every single down. It’s a one play at a time, it’s a process that we continue that won’t change.”
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The Gamecocks are listed as slight underdogs against the Sooners. With an even matchup, the defense will have to be on their A game to help secure the win.
“We definitely understand what’s going on, what kind of team we’re facing and very similar football teams and however you want to look at it. But you definitely want to go out there and play every down,” White said. “You definitely want to go out there and play every down. It’s definitely one play at a time like it is every single week.”
South Carolina and Oklahoma will kickoff on Saturday at 12:45 p.m. The game will be televised on SEC Network.
