Gamecocks Connection: The next step

Hey, I’m Chris Clark with GamecockCentral.com, and welcome to Gamecocks Connection.

This weekly newsletter will consist of a summary of some of the latest happenings in Gamecock Country, reader questions, and one “main idea” that’s on my mind. Plus, there will be some other goodies along the way.

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What’s on the docket today?

We spend a lot of time thinking about the future of the Gamecocks football program. There’s plenty left to do in the present, too. 

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Get caught up.

Three quick things to know about your Gamecocks from the last few days.

🏈 Juice Wells is going to be out for the Tennessee game, but USC should get others back, including another starter at WR. 

🏈 This is semi-related to USC, since Carolina plays this team in the near future. Texas A&M starting QB Conner Weigman looks to be out for the rest of the year. 

🏀 In case you missed it, Lamont Paris picked up a hoops commitment this week.

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The main idea.

— We have previously written in this space about what it will take for Shane Beamer’s program to get to the next level in the future.

Let’s not forget about the present, though. The South Carolina football program currently sits at 2-2, with every week critical to the team’s chances of having a quality season.

Let’s dive in and take a look at a few of the things that USC needs to get done starting against Tennessee. 

1. Shore up the nickel spot. 

Think back to several of the explosive passing plays this season, and you’ll find that there have been some issues in man coverage at the nickel spot. Several players –  Keenan Nelson Jr., Kajuan Banks, David Spaulding, and DQ Smith – have taken snaps there. 

Wes Mitchell made a great point to me this week in that South Carolina had corners with flexibility last season, where guys could be moved around situationally to play nickel and play matchups. That same ability is not there this year. Whether it’s finding the best 

2. Progress the running game. 

This one is obviously, painfully so at times. Yes, there were some signs of life against Mississippi State, with the offensive line having its most solid game yet and Mario Anderson emerging. It’s not fixed, though.  

Through four games, Spencer Rattler has the most 10+ yard runs on the team, with 7. That’s been a great addition to his game and to the team. But that wasn’t the plan, and shouldn’t be the case. USC’s backs have just a single 10+ yard run, and that was a 16-yard by Dakereon Joyner against Furman. 

This will continue to be a team that leans more on Rattler and its receivers, but the run game needs to be serviceable. Could the Mississippi State performance springboard this team to more production soon?

3. Stay healthy.

Here’s to thinking that we won’t see Juice Wells really soon; we know we won’t see him against the Vols. Other than that, this is a team that can ill-afford any key injuries. The depth certainly is not there at some key positions. 

The team does seem to be getting healthier, and Ahmarean Brown should be back against the Vols. 

4. Turnover tandem. 

USC’s taken pretty good care of the football so far this year, and that needs to remain the case. On the other hand, the Gamecocks defense needs to find a way to manufacture more takeaways. There have been 5 in total this year, and we saw how important they were against Mississippi State.

5. Make special teams special again.

Pete Lembo agreed with the notion that his special teams has been just solid this year, not spectacular.  Some of Carolina’s personnel losses from this year have shown.

I get the feeling that to pick up a big win this year, USC’s going to need to make a big play – a punt block, a return, a trick play – in order to do it.

Let’s not set the bar as high as last season, for sure. We know Lembo and Shane Beamer will continue to be aggressive in this department.

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