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08-16-2008, 01:22 PM
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Halfway Home: New Look On Defense?
August 16, 2008
Scott Hood
GamecockCentral.com Staff Writer
Less than two weeks before the season opener, new defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson is still trying, in his own words, "to sort it all out."
It's been well documented that 10 of 11 defensive starters return from last season, but they've all had to take a crash course in new terminology and a slightly different scheme from the one favored by Tyrone Nix last season.
"I'm pleased with the effort but I still don't know who our best 11 are yet," Johnson said. "We've thrown a lot of stuff at them and we'll just have to see how this works out. Saturday's scrimmage is very important. We've had a lot of nagging injuries and we've been holding guys out. AS a result, I don't think we've had enough time yet to sort it all out."
In terms of depth, the strongest unit on the entire Gamecock team might be the secondary, where no less than three or four potential All-SEC players toil.
Right now, position coach Shane Beamer is comfortable playing any one of five cornerbacks - probable starters Captain Munnerlyn and Carlos Thomas, as well as senior Stoney Woodson, sophomore Addison Williams and freshman Akeem Auguste.
"We're trying to find a sixth guy, but we feel good about those five players," Beamer said. "The older guys - Captain, Stoney, and Carlos - have really played well and they've been good leaders."
Munnerlyn sat out spring practice with a foot injury, but has rebounded strong with an outstanding pre-season camp. He's shown why many people consider him one of the top cover corners in the SEC.
Williams, who appeared in 10 games last season, has parlayed the extensive playing experience he received last season as a true freshman into his bid to become a starter. He may fall short in that endeavor, but he'll still step on the field a lot.
"Addison is a young guy but he is as knowledgeable as those (older) guys and is doing great," Beamer said. ""He doesn't have bad days; he's good every day."
Auguste enrolled at USC in January following a semester at Fork Union Military Academy and quickly impressed his coaches and teammates with his athletic ability. But the freshman from Hollywood, Fla. has discovered that major college football turns into a daily grind once pre-season camp begins.
"Akeem has to be a little more disciplined and play the system we're asking, and not free lance so much out there," Beamer said. "Everyone is in love with Akeem because he had a good spring and made a couple of good catches and everybody was talking about him.
"But I told him that he has to play within the system and do the things we're asking him to do or he's not going to play. There's more to it than making a couple of great catches in scrimmages. It's about being consistent on a daily basis."
Auguste is behind Thomas and Woodson at one of the cornerback positions, while Munnerlyn and Williams hold down the opposite spot.
Beamer said he regards Thomas and Woodson as "co-starters" with Auguste close behind.
"Akeem is certainly pushing them, and there are days he looks great," Beamer said. "Our guys can all be great and I've told them that. I feel good about where we are, but we still have a lot of work to do. I like the path we're on."
Safety features two of the best players at their position in the SEC – strong safety Emanuel Cook (team-high 92 tackles in 2007) and free safety Darian Stewart.
But the chatter in recent days has centered on Johnson's strategy to employ three safeties in a 4-2-5 scheme designed to contain the spread offenses that have become prevalent in college football.
In that defensive setup, converted wide receiver Chris Culliver will enter the contest as the third safety. Culliver is one of the fastest players on the team, and possibly the highest rated prospect in USC's stellar 2007 signing class.
"Ninety percent of the time, Chris is acting and playing like a starter," Cooper said. "That's a higher percentage than I thought he would be at this time. Of course, he has to be at 100 percent in 12 days. His attitude has been unbelievable. He's done everything we've asked. But he still needs some polishing. He's kept playing and kept getting better."
Cooper wants his three main safeties to be interchangeable capable of playing any of the three positions at any time.
"Two of our three safeties have to be good covers, so we teach it like we do with the corners," Cooper said. "Chris could play corner right now. You have to have four guys (in the secondary) who can cover (receivers). Down the road, we're going to play some teams that will use an empty backfield, then we'll go with five."
Redshirt freshman Mark Barnes, junior Chris Hail, senior Larry Freeman and redshirt freshman Alonzo Winfield are also available for duty at safety.
Of course, which scheme USC utilizes will determine how many linebackers are on the field for any particular play.
The two constants are middle linebacker Jasper Brinkley, one of the best in the SEC, and outside linebacker Eric Norwood. However, the latter could also lineup at defensive end in long yardage situations on second and third downs.
Rodney Paulk, last season's fourth-leading tackler, is Brinkley's top backup right now. Dustin Lindsey, who has played sparingly since 2005, will be in the mix at outside linebacker as long as his surgically repaired knee is 100 percent healthy.
When USC goes with a more traditional 4-3-4 look, the third linebacker (SAM) should be junior Gerrod Sinclair, who is in his fourth season with the program and appears ready for significant playing time. He could exceed his career total of 16 tackles this season.
However, Cooper suggested USC's reliance on five defensive backs could be prevalent this season, forcing Sinclair and the other SAM linebackers to learn another position.
"We've said to the strongside linebacker that the position is really a DB position," Cooper said. "When a team comes in with two backs and two tight ends, we've got enough big guys to go in there and bang. But, we've got to get better when teams spread us out."
Along the defensive front, position coach Brad Lawing is figuring out ways to take advantage of the deepest group of defensive linemen he's had at his disposal in his three seasons with the Gamecocks.
Defensive end Cliff Matthews and defensive tackle Ladi Ajiboye, who's still wearing a cast to protect a broken hand suffered over a month ago, should be the leaders of a unit that expects to improve substantially against the run from last season's last-place ranking against the run.
Lawing hopes to have a regular rotation of eight or nine players, with each one playing about half the game in order to preserve energy and allow for fresh players to be on the field at all times.
"If I have four to five (defensive) ends playing and four to five tackles playing, if I can get 30 to 35 snaps out of all those guys, that's ideal," Lawing said recently. "If I can get 35 snaps out of any defensive lineman, that's a lot."
Beyond Matthews, the rotation at defensive end will include Jordin Lindsey, Clifton Geathers and, possibly, Travian Robertson when he's not playing inside. Norwood, a pass rushing phenomenon in his first two seasons, may see action there as well.
Defensive tackle has five players ready to take significant snaps - Ajiboye, Nathan Pepper, Marque Hall (when his knee is healthy), Jonathan Williams and Robertson.
Halfway Home: New Look On Defense?
August 16, 2008
Scott Hood
GamecockCentral.com Staff Writer
Less than two weeks before the season opener, new defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson is still trying, in his own words, "to sort it all out."
It's been well documented that 10 of 11 defensive starters return from last season, but they've all had to take a crash course in new terminology and a slightly different scheme from the one favored by Tyrone Nix last season.
"I'm pleased with the effort but I still don't know who our best 11 are yet," Johnson said. "We've thrown a lot of stuff at them and we'll just have to see how this works out. Saturday's scrimmage is very important. We've had a lot of nagging injuries and we've been holding guys out. AS a result, I don't think we've had enough time yet to sort it all out."
In terms of depth, the strongest unit on the entire Gamecock team might be the secondary, where no less than three or four potential All-SEC players toil.
Right now, position coach Shane Beamer is comfortable playing any one of five cornerbacks - probable starters Captain Munnerlyn and Carlos Thomas, as well as senior Stoney Woodson, sophomore Addison Williams and freshman Akeem Auguste.
"We're trying to find a sixth guy, but we feel good about those five players," Beamer said. "The older guys - Captain, Stoney, and Carlos - have really played well and they've been good leaders."
Munnerlyn sat out spring practice with a foot injury, but has rebounded strong with an outstanding pre-season camp. He's shown why many people consider him one of the top cover corners in the SEC.
Williams, who appeared in 10 games last season, has parlayed the extensive playing experience he received last season as a true freshman into his bid to become a starter. He may fall short in that endeavor, but he'll still step on the field a lot.
"Addison is a young guy but he is as knowledgeable as those (older) guys and is doing great," Beamer said. ""He doesn't have bad days; he's good every day."
Auguste enrolled at USC in January following a semester at Fork Union Military Academy and quickly impressed his coaches and teammates with his athletic ability. But the freshman from Hollywood, Fla. has discovered that major college football turns into a daily grind once pre-season camp begins.
"Akeem has to be a little more disciplined and play the system we're asking, and not free lance so much out there," Beamer said. "Everyone is in love with Akeem because he had a good spring and made a couple of good catches and everybody was talking about him.
"But I told him that he has to play within the system and do the things we're asking him to do or he's not going to play. There's more to it than making a couple of great catches in scrimmages. It's about being consistent on a daily basis."
Auguste is behind Thomas and Woodson at one of the cornerback positions, while Munnerlyn and Williams hold down the opposite spot.
Beamer said he regards Thomas and Woodson as "co-starters" with Auguste close behind.
"Akeem is certainly pushing them, and there are days he looks great," Beamer said. "Our guys can all be great and I've told them that. I feel good about where we are, but we still have a lot of work to do. I like the path we're on."
Safety features two of the best players at their position in the SEC – strong safety Emanuel Cook (team-high 92 tackles in 2007) and free safety Darian Stewart.
But the chatter in recent days has centered on Johnson's strategy to employ three safeties in a 4-2-5 scheme designed to contain the spread offenses that have become prevalent in college football.
In that defensive setup, converted wide receiver Chris Culliver will enter the contest as the third safety. Culliver is one of the fastest players on the team, and possibly the highest rated prospect in USC's stellar 2007 signing class.
"Ninety percent of the time, Chris is acting and playing like a starter," Cooper said. "That's a higher percentage than I thought he would be at this time. Of course, he has to be at 100 percent in 12 days. His attitude has been unbelievable. He's done everything we've asked. But he still needs some polishing. He's kept playing and kept getting better."
Cooper wants his three main safeties to be interchangeable capable of playing any of the three positions at any time.
"Two of our three safeties have to be good covers, so we teach it like we do with the corners," Cooper said. "Chris could play corner right now. You have to have four guys (in the secondary) who can cover (receivers). Down the road, we're going to play some teams that will use an empty backfield, then we'll go with five."
Redshirt freshman Mark Barnes, junior Chris Hail, senior Larry Freeman and redshirt freshman Alonzo Winfield are also available for duty at safety.
Of course, which scheme USC utilizes will determine how many linebackers are on the field for any particular play.
The two constants are middle linebacker Jasper Brinkley, one of the best in the SEC, and outside linebacker Eric Norwood. However, the latter could also lineup at defensive end in long yardage situations on second and third downs.
Rodney Paulk, last season's fourth-leading tackler, is Brinkley's top backup right now. Dustin Lindsey, who has played sparingly since 2005, will be in the mix at outside linebacker as long as his surgically repaired knee is 100 percent healthy.
When USC goes with a more traditional 4-3-4 look, the third linebacker (SAM) should be junior Gerrod Sinclair, who is in his fourth season with the program and appears ready for significant playing time. He could exceed his career total of 16 tackles this season.
However, Cooper suggested USC's reliance on five defensive backs could be prevalent this season, forcing Sinclair and the other SAM linebackers to learn another position.
"We've said to the strongside linebacker that the position is really a DB position," Cooper said. "When a team comes in with two backs and two tight ends, we've got enough big guys to go in there and bang. But, we've got to get better when teams spread us out."
Along the defensive front, position coach Brad Lawing is figuring out ways to take advantage of the deepest group of defensive linemen he's had at his disposal in his three seasons with the Gamecocks.
Defensive end Cliff Matthews and defensive tackle Ladi Ajiboye, who's still wearing a cast to protect a broken hand suffered over a month ago, should be the leaders of a unit that expects to improve substantially against the run from last season's last-place ranking against the run.
Lawing hopes to have a regular rotation of eight or nine players, with each one playing about half the game in order to preserve energy and allow for fresh players to be on the field at all times.
"If I have four to five (defensive) ends playing and four to five tackles playing, if I can get 30 to 35 snaps out of all those guys, that's ideal," Lawing said recently. "If I can get 35 snaps out of any defensive lineman, that's a lot."
Beyond Matthews, the rotation at defensive end will include Jordin Lindsey, Clifton Geathers and, possibly, Travian Robertson when he's not playing inside. Norwood, a pass rushing phenomenon in his first two seasons, may see action there as well.
Defensive tackle has five players ready to take significant snaps - Ajiboye, Nathan Pepper, Marque Hall (when his knee is healthy), Jonathan Williams and Robertson.