Marcus Satterfield Talks Recent Offensive Struggles
South Carolina's offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield has witnessed a slew of problems with the Gamecocks' offense this season, culminating in their lackluster showing this past Saturday against Florida, leading to many questions regarding the offense's inability to threaten their opponents consistently.
The local media brought these questions to the forefront at Satterfield's weekly coordinator press conference Wednesday afternoon, starting with the blowout loss to Florida.
"It was not a good night for us on offense," Satterfield said. "We started out slow, not being able to run the ball… and then [in] the second half to start out with three turnovers in five plays is unacceptable... Collectively as a group, the way we executed, the way that we performed was not the standard which we try to play to.”
The lack of an established run game was a sticking point for coach Satterfield, as he lamented that turnovers played a role in the rushing attack's absence but that he and the team have to find ways to create a solid ground game.
“I mean if you turnover the ball three times like that, you’re not gonna have any run game going, which was very frustrating, but we’ll do whatever we have to do to run the football... Whatever it takes we’ll try to do it to make sure we can stay out there on the field and get some first downs.”
The most puzzling aspect of South Carolina's offensive struggles is that they've occurred despite the surplus of talent the Gamecocks acquired in the offseason, which Satterfield stated is due to a confluence of factors.
“I think just inconsistency of guys staying healthy at the right time. I think the guys learning a new offense [has played a role], and it’s one thing to learn it... it’s another thing when you get to camp and you get to play in games… and I think confidence... We get things going early, usually we’ll be pretty good. If it doesn’t go great early, sometimes we have to fight some demons."
Satterfield then spoke about how the offense can try to find a rhythm going into the home stretch, and he pointed to the ability to use tempo and sticking with the ground game as the proverbial anecdote.
"In order to get into your tempo you gotta get a first down first, and that’s kinda like the golden rule... I think just going out there and running the football and making some plays early I think will allow us to get into that rhythm.”
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