Shane Beamer Discusses Run Game Improvement, Pass Defense Woes
It was a subject that was talked about multiple times this week: South Carolina had to establish some kind of ground game to help take some of the pressure off of Spencer Rattler and the Gamecocks' defense. While Dowell Loggains and his staff were able to get more life out of the rushing attack, the defense seemingly took a step back in an area that has been a strength for the past year or so.
On Saturday night, the Gamecocks were the team that prioritized running the football, carrying the ball 44 times for 155 rushing yards and two touchdowns, three kneel downs by Spencer not withstanding; by far their best performance of the season. This helped the Gamecocks for the first time all season create a bit of a play-action game, and might be the kind of the confidence boost this side of the ball needed as they near the halfway point of the season.
“It was good to see our offensive line do that," Beamer stated after the game. "When you’re able to run the ball like [we] were able to tonight, it helps out your passing game, and defense."
The defense, however, didn't have their best performance on Saturday night. As a matter of fact it was their worst outing in terms of pass defense to date this season, as the Gamecocks gave up 487 passing yards to Will Rogers, and a school record 256 receiving yards to Lideatrick "Tulu" Griffin, with Shane calling the defense's performance against Griffin "Embarrassing", and emphasizing that it wasn't just one unit.
"We can talk about our defensive backs all we want, somebody’s gotta win upfront… We need to generate a pass rush."
While there's certain parts of this game that will have Beamer and his staff shaking their heads on Sunday, the Gamecocks now set themselves up with a shot to go over .500 this next Saturday when they take on the Tennessee Volunteers in Knoxville. Considering the gauntlet the team has played to this point in the year compared to some of their SEC counterparts, it's not lost on Beamer what it means to simply get a conference win.
"I don’t know of anybody in the country that’s played a tougher schedule than we have," Shane lamented. "This league, you can’t get caught looking too far ahead."
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