South Carolina Gamecocks College Football Pregame Quote, 11/05/2024

“When you have a game like you had Saturday night, there are a lot of individuals like our players that are getting accolades. It all goes back to the team and what we were able to accomplish. Happy Election Day to everyone. Everyone please get out and vote. Before we get started, wanted to send my thoughts and prayers to Le’Veon Moss, the running back at Texas A&M. I saw where his injury that happened the other night was season-ending. Hate that for him. Don’t know him but loved watching him play leading into our game. Was one of, if not the best running back in the SEC, without a doubt. Wish him a speedy recovery and want him to know that everyone here in our football program is thinking of him.”

 “I know they are leading the league in time of possession so they are keeping the ball. They are second in the SEC in turnover. They are leading the SEC in not turning it over. They are the least penalized team in the SEC. They are doing a great job of not losing football games. Playing winning football. Finding ways to get games to the fourth quarter and then finding a way to win it in the fourth quarter. They have three losses by a total of 10 points, if I am not mistaken. They are doing a lot of really, really good things. It all starts with the quarterback. He is just a dynamic player, dynamic athlete, dynamic leader. Their team goes as he goes. A ton of respect for the way he goes about things on and off the field and what he is about as a person and player it appears. A lot of their better players from last season, in our mind when we played them last year, a lot of those guys are back. Particularly on the defensive side of the ball and on the offensive line and then they have added some impact transfers, as well. Obviously, the quarterback but other positions on offense, other positions on defense. They have some guys on the defensive line with size and pass rush ability. They have a really big secondary. That is going to be a challenge for our guys this week is just the size of those guys in the secondary at nickel and safety. You basically have three linebackers that are playing those three positions for them and playing at a high level. We know that coach Lea is a defensive guy. They are dangerous in the return game. Punter is a heck of a punter. They are a really good football team in all three phases. We will have play well up in Nashville. I know this is a trip that our fans always look forward to going to Nashville. Would anticipate this year being no different. They have made a lot of changes and renovations to their stadium so it will be cool for our fans to get up there and see what they have done there at their stadium. I know they all love going up there and enjoying Nashville on Friday night and hopefully on Saturday night, if we are able to play well. We talked to our team about it this morning how many Gamecocks are going to be up in Nashville this weekend. We will challenge them to show up and do their part, as well.”

On what they did after beating Tennessee in 2022 and then going on the road, being in a similar situation this week

“I would think very similar from that standpoint in that we got beat by Florida down in Gainesville. I talked to the team in the locker room after the game that that was obviously not us what we put on display out there in Gainesville that night. But we had the opportunity over the next two weeks to change the trajectory of the program. When we beat Tennessee, we just reiterated that. We didn’t say we had one week to do it. We had the next two weeks. We need to continue to build on that and that nobody thinks you are going to be able to do it two weeks in a row. Leaning into that is what we did two years ago. I think this year is very similar. Last week, we said, they remember November and they do. It wasn’t just, they remember November 2. It is what you do the whole month. I showed the team the clip this morning of Josh in the press conference with you guys the other night where he said, one, two, three, four, is that four? That is what he said exactly. A great message that they will remember what we do throughout this month not just the first game of this month, as well.  I am sure there are a lot of people that think, man, they played great against Texas A&M. There is no way they can do it two weeks in a row against another good team. It is a challenge for us to see if we can. I would say that, as well.”

On what he thought when he saw the memo from Greg Sankey on faking injuries and if he was happy to see that

“Absolutely. My reaction was, good for you Mr. Commissioner that he did that. Those are conversations that we have had within the league or us and the league or the league and other teams that have been going on all year. There was already a policy for not doing it. I can remember walking into the defensive staff room before the first game and reading to Clayton and those guys, here is the policy in this league and I’m not paying the fine. If one of our guys go down, yall can figure out where the money comes from. Making sure they understood there is a policy in our league because we were getting ready to play Old Dominion who was a tempo team, as well. Then obviously, it has been issue throughout the season. We have seen some of the teams either on television on in-person that was a tough look and not what anybody wants to see. Like I said after that game earlier in the season, no one wants to see that. You pray that everyone is healthy and OK. No one wants to see double digits injuries in one game that maybe aren’t really injuries. Now, all of a sudden, you have four-plus hour football games. It is not good for the game. I was glad to see that statement come out. I don’t think it has necessarily gotten worse. I think there was a period where it was very prevalent in the league there early in the season. Just in games that I have watched, I don’t think it has been terrible recently. Every week is different. As always, appreciate the commissioner’s leadership. He was here the other night. Had a chance to visit with him before the game. Appreciate what he is about and what he is trying to get done.”

On the perimeter blocking improvements

“You should have been in the team meeting this morning because that was one of the focal points in the team meeting this morning. So ask me that question again next Tuesday and hopefully we did that in Nashville because it is going to be a challenge this week. In all seriousness, when I talk about those defensive backs with size, that is a challenge for our receivers because we are not very big at the receiver position. They have a nickel that is 6-foot-2, 220-pounds out there in space that our receivers are going to have to be able to block. They have safeties that are 6-foot-4, 200 pounds. When you talk about perimeter blocking, it is going to be a big challenge this week. Same thing for our defense as well because of the quarterback and the things he is able to do with the ball in his hands. Some of that zone read stuff, option, that he pulls in and he is out there in space. We showed the whole team this morning some clips of Vandy’s receivers and tight ends physically getting after some other SEC defensive backs on the perimeter that extend runs for the quarterback, running back, whoever it might be. It will be a big challenge this week. As far as the buy-in, we just talk about it all the time. It is a period that we do in practice every Tuesday where it is the starting defensive backs and linebackers versus the starting tight ends and receivers and running backs. The linemen aren’t there. It is just rapid fire. Right side, left side. We do that every Tuesday and make a big point about it and coach off of it. That is where so many of those explosives come from. A lot of the success that we were able to have in the run game the other night was because of perimeter blocking. Whether it is Nyck Harbor coming down and blocking a defensive end or cracking a linebacker or somebody, I think it was Gage on one of Rocket’s runs over there on A&M’s sideline where Gage comes in and cracks the safety. It is a point of emphasis and something we talk about all the time. They are fortunate that they have a receivers coach that was a tough dude as a football player and did that himself when he was playing in the NFL. Something that we pride ourselves on, for sure.”

On what was stressed in the bye week on making sure LaNorris Sellers played well

“You don’t want to turn him into a robot where you are scared to make mistakes. There was a play that I showed last week of Arkansas vs Texas A&M and it was Arkansas’ quarterback in the game earlier this year where he got out of the pocket, he rolled to the right. It was during a two minute drill. He was trying to make a play late in the game but he made a throw where he kind of threw it back across his body back inside and it was intercepted by Texas A&M. I made the point in the team meeting, we can’t make decisions like this. We have to play winning football. I also got to thinking about it, I don’t want to paralyze him from that standpoint either. I pulled LaNorris aside individually later and I told him, ‘Look, I showed that clip and the point I was making is, we can’t throw the ball back across our body inside but I want you to go out there Saturday night and cut it loose and have fun and be the playmaker that you are and you saw that. You don’t want to coach that out of him. There is also in my mind, no matter what you are doing and you are trying to make plays, you can play with proper ball security in the pocket and know that Texas A&M, I have talked to you about those four d-linemen and how good they are. They do a great job of swatting at balls. LaNorris, coaching him up to carry the ball the right way. There are certainly some times where he was carrying the ball the other night not great. I am sure Vanderbilt is looking at it and saying, ‘Hey, if he is going to carry the ball loose like this, we need to get that ball out.’ You are always emphasizing, not just with LaNorris, but all of our guys, defensive guys included, how we want to carry the ball. Also, with more experience, I think he gets better with this. Just understanding what is going on around him in the pocket. Making sure that he is has the ball where we want it to be in the pocket where we don’t have those costly fumbles like that, as well. Some of them are going to happen. Bang, bang play and somebody puts his helmet right on the ball. Sometimes, it is going to pop out. We don’t want to have the ones that are more self-inflicted than the other team doing a great job getting it out.”

On when he became first aware of Diego Pavia and what has made him so good

“First became aware of him I guess would have been last year when they beat Auburn. That was late in the year, I believe. I always look at scores of games across the country every Saturday and you saw that his team was having a good year and they came in there to Auburn and won and it is like, ‘Wow.’ You see some of the highlights of that game and I never thought that guy would end up in the SEC. It was different than that. Probably this summer, we always do a summer scouting report as a coaching staff where you talk about, we are really going to do a deep dive into either your first four opponents is what we do. Any new opponent on the schedule, Wofford, LSU, Ole Miss and any team that has a new coordinator so we can get that background. Obviously, Vanderbilt had a new coordinator so we wanted to study their offense a little more in depth. Back in June when we started doing those summer scouting reports, and you start seeing what he did before the season and the kind of player he was and what they might be doing offensively. Just understanding that. It was really a wakeup call when they beat Virginia Tech game one because before the season, Virginia Tech was a team that a lot of people were picking to win the ACC and they went into Vanderbilt did what they did to them game one and certainly, got on our radar. Then, I would say like everyone, when they beat Alabama and you are like, ‘OK, we better pay attention to this guy. There is something to him’ And you could see that in the postgame interview he did that day with Alyssa Lang after the game. Just his passion and competitive spirit. It is very evident when you watch them on tape how they feed off his energy and competitive spirt and what he is about. I enjoy watching him, that is for sure.”

On playing more of a complete game and how that carries over into practice

“I think we are certainly off to that start. It goes back to what Jack asked about how we just keep it going. It wasn’t just, let’s have a great week and go play well against Texas A&M. It’s, let’s finish the month of November the right way. We did some really good things the other night, let’s keep building on that and keep this momentum going. Practice Sunday night was awesome. There was no hangover. It was more excitement that we get to be back out on the field. Today’s practice was the same thing. You worry about it, I’ll be honest. You have such a sky high game on Saturday night, you worry about, can we recreate the same energy and intensity that we displayed last week in practice? We started this morning the same way on that. There is a lot to clean up from the A&M game. There are some things that we did not do great defensively, special teams wise and offense. We have a ways to go and it is right back to work. There is also certainly a sense of, we are doing some really good things right now. Let’s keep this momentum going and we can’t wait to get back out on the field, also.”

On how much of the offensive line’s improvement is continuity and individual growth

“I would say a little bit of both. I wish they had said that before game nine considering we have had the same offensive line for eight straight weeks, knock on wood. Last year, it was nine straight weeks before we had the same five offensive lineman. I would say about time. They have gotten better individually. There is no question about it. We made that point with them last week was, Josiah, you are not a freshman anymore. You have played in seven games and most of those are SEC games. You have the experience. Torricelli and Kamaar, you were new here but you have experience in this group, as well. They have all worked really, really hard and gotten better individually but absolutely, the health that you want to have, the continuity on that line, it is critical. Working alongside one another and learning each other. Just the communication and the rapport and all that. Those guys obviously spend a lot of time together so it should continue to grow and get better throughout the year. They did some really good things the other night. Going back to things we have to clean up, there is some communication that we didn’t have where they brought five-man pressures right up the middle and we didn’t communicate that well enough. We have to continue to grind and get that cleaned up, as well.”

On DeAndre Jules and Mazeo Bennett’s status

“He is a little closer. I doubt he is going to be ready this weekend. We will see. We are not anticipating that at this point. We will see how he is tomorrow. Mazeo practiced today, he should be good. Everyone else that left the game the other night practiced today and should be good.”

On Nick Barrett being at four games and if his role is dependent on Jules’ status

“It is all dependent. We feel we have a pretty good squad in there with Tonka, T.J., Boogie, Monkell, Jules, Nick Barrett and then Rondarius Porter has really given us some awesome reps in there. That is a solid group. We always rotate four guys in there, sometimes six. It is better what we had last year where we were basically on a three-man rotation. But yes, to answer your question, Nick’s role is dependent on Jules and a lot of those guys. But even if Jules was out, it is not necessarily a Nick is going to play a ton of reps. It is very game plan specific with him, for sure.”

On what he is telling the team about playing a team that is playing with a similar confidence level

“That this is a really good football team. That this is a nationally ranked team that we have to go into their new and improved stadium. When you guys, the media, did your national rankings this week. Y’all looked at it and said Vanderbilt is one of the 25 best teams in America and South Carolina is not. That is what the rankings say right now. We know we have a big challenge, as well. It is always about us. We don’t spend a ton of time talking about the other opponent. That is whether we are playing Alabama, Texas A&M, Vandy. We talk about then, don’t get me wrong, to introduce them. We do that on Tuesdays. It is always about the standard we want to play with and how well we can play. We know we have a big challenge this week. Our guys know. They can turn on the tape and see how hard Vandy plays on defense. They can see how well coached they are on defense. They can see the playmaking ability that the quarterback has. The running back was there last year as a freshman and was a really dynamic player. They have receivers with size that can run. The tight end is a heck of an athlete they involve in a lot of different ways. The offensive line, they have added some transfers. They have some returning guys that have been around there forever, it seems. Defensively, size on the defense line. Size in the secondary. Athleticism at linebacker. Dangerous returner and special teams. They can turn on the tape and see that this isn’t the Vanderbilt we played last year. This is a nationally ranked team that is a lot better and playing at a high level right now. They don’t do things to beat themselves. If we are going to win this game on Saturday, we have to go take it because these guys aren’t going to give you anything, that is for sure.”

On why the team stopped to visit the family on the way to the team hotel on Friday

“Every Friday when we leave here and go to the hotel that we stay in for home games, every Friday when we come off of 26 and get onto Bush River and take that left on Bush River road and we start heading up to the hotel, we come through at the same time. We leave here at 5:35 or 5:40. Every Friday when we roll past that street corner at 5:55 p.m., they are always there on the corner for as long as I can remember. They are always there. Hot, cold, rain, sun, windy, calm, losing record, winning record, they are always there. I always wave at them when I go by because they are standing there with their flag and waiving at us when we come by. I always waive at them when the busses go by just to try and acknowledge them. Brendan, our buss driver who does an amazing job, mentioned to me one time, anytime you want to stop, we can stop. I got to thinking about it. I meant to do it before the Ole Miss game and it completely slipped my mind and I didn’t want to stop and not have told the players what we were going to do. It was a note to myself and then he reminded me last week as well that we wanted to stop. I said, ‘Yeah, you are exactly right. I definitely want to stop.’ I told the team after the walkthrough on Friday, here is what we are going to do. Gratitude is a core value of this program. These ladies stand outside every Friday just to see the busses drive by for five seconds and waive at you and we are going to stop and show our gratitude. They were awesome. They got on the bus and I didn’t think I was going to be able to get them off the bus. I said, ‘Do you want to come on?’ They came on and had a heck of a time and they were on there for a few minutes. It was finally like, OK, we have to go and get to the hotel. We have dinner and meetings and all that, as well. They were great, and I know our players appreciate it. It is one the many things that makes college athletics so great. It is one of the many, many things that makes coaching at South Carolina and playing at South Carolina and playing at South Carolina so special is just the people like that that make it really special.”

‚ÄåOn the job Clayton White has done this season and what has led to the defensive performance

“For me, I think it is human nature and it is easy every time something doesn’t go the right way for everybody just to say, ‘blow it up and start over.’ There is something to be said for staying the course and continuing to tweak and make the adjustments you need to make if you feel like you have the right people in place. Clayton and our defensive staff specifically, we did some really good things in 2021 and 2022 as a body of work and 2023. Look, I get it. We went through a stretch last season where we did not play great defense and we gave up way too many explosive passes. We went four straight games without creating a takeaway. It is hard to win that way. You also look at the defense we played down the stretch last season. Played pretty good against Vanderbilt. Held Kentucky to 14 points. Clemson did not score an offensive touchdown against us last season. Me looking at it and knowing that we had so many players coming back off last year’s defense in all three levels. It is me sitting there saying, OK, is the best thing to be blow up everything and bring in a new coach and a new system or do you have the right defensive coordinator and the right defensive staff in place and do you have the right system? When I looked at it, I said, ‘Hell yeah, we do.’ Now, let’s continue to make the adjustments that we need to make because nobody works harder than Clayton. He grinds. He is smart. He is a fantastic defensive coordinator and that staff in there is great. For me, it was looking at it. OK, let’s continue to make the tweaks and adjustments. We know we gave up too many explosive passes. How are we going to minimize those in 2024. We have to get better at rushing the passer. We need to go get some help in the portal. We need to continue developing these young guys. We have a freshman coming in Dylan Stewart that we think can help. Let’s continue to look at everything we are doing schematically and get the right pieces in here but also make adjustments. Are we going to continue to be more of a three-down defense like we were at the end of last season? Are we going to be more four-down? Do we want to continue to mix it up? It was all the above. Knowing that last year wasn’t good enough. I am not saying that at all. In my mind, we had the right people in place. We had the core group of our guys returning. Let’s continue to build on the good things we did last season and adjust to things and learn from things we didn’t do well and get more of the bodies in here to go do what we want to do from a defensive standpoint. So far, so good. We are two thirds of the way through the seasons, too. We are not going around patting ourselves on the back and handing out trophies right now. We have a lot of football left starting Saturday afternoon in Nashville.”

On his reaction to LaNorris Sellers running over the defender on third down, what allowed him to be effective breaking tackles

“First reaction was probably like everyone else, words I probably can’t repeat in a press conference when I saw him coming over there because we know what type of defense Texas A&M has.  When I saw that, it was, ‘Yeah, wow.’ Certainly, brought a lot of energy and excitement to our sideline when he did that. That was awesome, as well. What allows him to do that is how just strong he is. That guy is a freak in the weight room just how strong he is. Look at his lower body. Another SEC head coach texted me on Sunday morning about him and he said, ‘You have freaking Superman back there playing quarterback just how strong and fast he is.’  He is. He works really, really hard in the weight room. He is a naturally strong guy. He is 240 pounds and can run. That’s just him. It wasn’t a surprise. You think back to last year’s game against Vanderbilt. There is a play where he has a touchdown run and he runs through somebody and that was a ‘wow’ moment as well. We have had those in practice. I think I have told you guys the story of his first spring here, the spring of 2023 and we had a scrimmage right out here because we couldn’t in the stadium because of everything was still torn up from the Tennessee game a few months earlier and they were repairing it. So we had to do all of our scrimmages out her that spring until the spring game. We had a scrimmage where was fresh out of high school and we made him live where you could tackle the quarterback and there was a play on the near sideline over here by the building and he fought for extra yardage on a run and our defense was trying to tackle him. Guys are bouncing off of him and he is carrying guys and things like that. That was very much a moment early in his time here at South Carolina where I remember thinking, man, this guy is different and is going to be a real problem for teams trying to tackle this guy. He just has a good sense, too. That is not easy. The ability to evade people and make them miss in the backfield and out in space. He really did a great job the other night. It is God-given ability but then it is also just his natural strength, as well, and being able to do that, for sure.”