Improved third down integral against Missouri
Football teams that win consistently typically stay on the field on third downs offensively and get off on the defensive end. So, as South Carolina enjoys a four-game win streak, it’s easy to see why looking at the third down numbers.
“I would say we’re very much improved on third down. Coach White made that a focal point for us going into the off-season last year. There were times last year when we got to third down, should have been off the field and allowed teams to stay on,” Brad Johnson said.
“That took away time from our offense to get back on the field. That’s the number one job of defense, to get your offense back on the field. We weren’t doing that enough.”
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Last year the Gamecocks finished 11th in the SEC with opponents, giving up a first down on 40.2 percent of attempts last year.
After a slow start at the beginning of the year, South Carolina’s defense is 10 for its last 45 third downs defensively and a combined 8-for-26 against Kentucky and Texas A&M.
Kentucky averaged 10.9 yards to go on third down while the Aggies had on average seven yards to go. Opponents have faced 12 third and longs and converted just three.
Where the uptick has come is offensively where South Carolina started dreadful and has played well of late.
After starting 10-for-37, South Carolina is converting 14-of-16 third downs over their last two games and are converting 50 percent over the four-game win streak.
The biggest improvement has been third and long or medium, where South Carolina is 7-for-19 there. One thing that has to be better is third and short, though. The Gamecocks have been stuffed on short-yardage four times the last two weeks.
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“We have to get better on third down. Eight of 16 is good but we have to get better,” Austin Stogner said. “We have to continue to know what we’re doing, know our assignments and it comes down to winning our one-on-ones and one-on-one assignments. Then we’ll start getting better on third down.”
Spencer Rattler has been really good on third down the last two games. He’s 11-for-18 on third against Kentucky and Texas A&M and averaging 9.8 yards per pass attempt. Of his 11 completions, six have been for at least 18 yards.
“We had a good week of practice throwing the same throws. He threw the same throws every single day in practice last week,” Marcus Satterfield said. “Any time we get those designed and repped every day it’s going to help the receiver and quarterback. It’s progressing in a manner I’m satisfied with and will continue to get better each week.”
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While they’ve been good on third, the Gamecocks have only had a 33.3 percent success rate on first and second down the last two games. That will have to improve against a Missouri team that ranks tenth nationally at 29.13 percent.
“It’s the players and they have a really, really sound and exotic scheme…You get in the upper tier of third downs–six to 10–you’re getting a lot of stuff,” Satterfield said. “They’re very, very good on third down. We have to be really good on first and second down to stay out of those situations. If we’re in a lot of those situations it’s going to be a tough night.”
