South Carolina defense uses win over Akron to rebound, restore confidence ahead of bye week

South Carolina’s first loss of the season – a 36-33 heartbreaker to then-No. 16 LSU on Sept. 14 – has been the lone blemish in what has been a strong start of the season for its defense. And there are reasons why multiple players on that side of the football felt the team could have done better.

The Gamecocks allowed a season-high 417 yards of offense to the Tigers. The team’s disruptive pass rush recorded its lowest single-game totals in sacks (two), tackles for loss (six) and forced fumbles (zero). While the defense forced one interception, an additional two were called back because of penalties. And the team was unable to hold onto an early 17-0 lead.

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“Coming in on Sunday, knowing that we had a bad taste in our mouth. Knowing that fans and people online are going to be like, ‘All the refs.’ At the end of the day, it’s us,” Demetrius Knight said. “We tackle better, we’re never put in that situation. If offense gets more yards here, we’re never in that situation.”

Because of this, South Carolina was looking for a rebound. Akron, a team which won just seven total games over the past five seasons heading into 2024, provided an opportunity for it to do that.

And rebound it did. The Gamecocks put up one of their strongest defensive performances of the season in their 50-7 win over the Zips, which helped restore some confidence ahead of the team’s first bye week.

A quick look at South Carolina’s defensive box score yields numbers that may not jump out. The Gamecocks logged just three tackles for loss and two sacks, one of which came in the fourth quarter. The team also forced just one turnover – a fourth-quarter interception by DQ Smith.

It did, however, hold Akron to 154 yards of offense, the fewest it has allowed to a team all season. The Gamecocks’ defense forced the Zips to punt on 10 of its 13 drives. Akron’s only score of the game came late in the first half on a 42-yard touchdown pass to Adrian Norton.

Kyle Kennard, who recorded 1.5 tackles for loss and 0.5 sacks in the win, said the team’s performance made a statement.

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“I said before the game to Coach (Clayton) White that these are games where dominant teams can be dominant. If you claim that you’re the kind of defense that we claim we are, then this is the game we put our stamp on – there should be no questions about it,” Kennard said. “Akron is a good team. Respect to Akron, but we thought that they shouldn’t be able to be on the field, and I feel like we played a decent game.”

He added that rebounding in this way, as well as preparing for the game, helped him increase his confidence.

“I’m feeling as confident as ever,” Kennard said. “In this game, you gain confidence throughout the weeks in practices, and through your teammates and through your coaches. All three of those factors are doing a good job at giving me confidence every Saturday.”

With the win, South Carolina improved its record to 3-1 to start the season for the first time since 2017. Following the bye week, South Carolina will play its stiffest competition of the season in Ole Miss, Alabama and Oklahoma – three ranked SEC opponents.

Knight said not having a game on Saturday won’t change the team’s mindset heading into the week.

“We’re approaching this week like anything else. We’re going to celebrate this win tonight, and then we’re coming back tomorrow, clean up everything that we did wrong, and of course, get everybody healthy this week. That’s going to be the main focus,” Knight said. “Next week is crucial because we got to get key pieces back, but we also got to make sure we hold onto who we are.”

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