South Carolina Gamecocks College Football Pregame Quote, 09/03/2024

Opening Statement

“Thanks to our fans. Second hottest game on record from what I understand last weekend. It was loud. Gamecock Walk was awesome and then the electricity in there was fantastic. Hate that we had the weather delay but crowd noise was a factor even until the end. Old Dominion had some pre snap penalties at the end of the game when they were backed up down there by The Cockpit. Appreciate the fans that were there and making Saturday great and hopefully next Saturday when we are back in Columbia, it will be even better. Congratulations to Kyle Kennard and Dylan Stewart on being SEC Defensive linemen of the week. Awesome kudos and recognition for those guys. Certainly, well deserved, without a doubt. Hopefully the first for many for those guys and other ones on our defense, also. I know we have had some defensive tackles that have won that award in the past and surely believe we will have other guys on our defense winning it this year as the year goes on.”

“Excited to open up SEC play this week up in Lexington. Have great respect for coach Stoops personally and his program. Always enjoy going up to Lexington. As many of you know, I lived in Kentucky for eight years and grew up in elementary school following UK athletics and Louisville athletics was rolling at the time in basketball with Denny Crum and Pervis Ellison and LaBradford Smith and all those guys. Certainly, Kentucky basketball with Joe B. Hall and Eddie Sutton when I was growing up and Kenny Walker and Mel Turpin and always followed Kentucky football. Great quarterbacks of the past guys like Pookie Jones and Billy Jack Haskins that played quarterback at Kentucky. Both of those guys were from Murray, Kentucky or when to high school in the Murray, Kentucky area that kind of grew up around which was where I was from. Always have followed them and always enjoy going back to Kentucky.”

On if there was any schematic change needed offensively

“Not really. Let’s give Old Dominion some credit. The way they play defense makes it tough to do a lot of things. Just the structure of their defense. They take away a lot. This isn’t a, ‘They are Old Dominion. You should be able to do this.’ They take away a lot with what they do schematically. It was going to be a challenge. I said that on the radio show last week. I said that leading up to it that the way they play defense is different and is a challenge. We didn’t do a good enough job of executing. After every game, you look back at things schematically that you would tweak and do differently. For the most part, we have to coach better. We have to execute better. You don’t have 35 minutes time of possession and a 16-play drive, a 13-play drive, a 10-play drive and stink. We did some good things. Was it good enough on Saturday? Absolutely not. Nobody is saying that. We also did some good things and we also have to be able to finish drives in the red zone and not kick field goals. If we score touchdowns down there and not kick field goals, I think everybody is feeling a lot different about things, too.”

On the message to Sellers to not be timid

“Relax. Have fun. He is our guy. He is a hell of a quarterback. There is a lot of pressure on that guy going into Saturday. He is from the state, local kid, starting his first game as a Gamecock in a Gamecock uniform. The expectations, rightfully so, he is a really good quarterback. He had high expectations. I told him on Friday that he didn’t need to go out there and be Superman. Just go out there and relax and we are better around him. I told him, we are better around him on offense than what Spencer had around him last year. Now, we don’t have Xavier Legette, a first round pick but if you just look at our depth at all the positions and the offensive line,  I feel like we are better overall as an offense just from a depth standpoint than what we were last year. I told LaNorris, lean on those guys. You don’t have to do anything by himself. I don’t feel like he tried to do too much. I think it is just, the expectations, week 1, you are in that stadium, you want to play great. He did a lot of really good things. He made some nice throws. The deep ball that we unfortunately were not able to connect on, there are not many guys in the world that can make that throw. He showed his ability to run. He did some good stuff. I have said it all along, we will be a team that offensively, continues to get better each week. We started eight new guys on the offense Saturday that it was their first game in a Gamecock uniform if I am not mistaken including two true freshmen. That is not an excuse. There are a lot of teams across the country that are starting and playing new players. There are a lot of new faces around LaNorris and we  are going to continue to get better throughout the season. LaNorris is right at the top of that list. He just needs to know that he doesn’t need try and do too much. Just go out there, have fun and play. Work hard and prepare the right way during the week and then game day should be the fun part for him.”

On the perimeter blocking and how much of it was effort and scheme

“A mix. I would say there were some schematic things that we didn’t quite execute like we needed to as far as going in there and digging out defensive backs in the box that receivers have to. There were some times that the look got cloudy and we didn’t quite end up on the right person. That was a part of it. There were also times where we didn’t go in there with the intent and strain that we needed to. A lot of times that we did. I know you guys break down the play of every game and I am sure you guys have pointed out Mazeo Bennett’s effort in perimeter blocking. He competed his rear end off in the perimeter blocking game and be willing to come down into the box and take on people in the box. We need more of that. I think a lot of times, we were in the right place. We didn’t just execute with the best technique or the intent to get things done that it took on that one. It was the difference in maybe explosive runs and not. Combination of both. Something that we spent a lot of time on. We always have a drill on Tuesday’s in practice where we work perimeter blocking and today was no different and we will continue to get better at it.”

On Debo Williams’ voice in the locker room

“He’s huge. Not just Debo but so many leaders that we have. I have said it before, when we vote on captains at the end of the season, so many of the top vote getters from last season are still here. Tonka, Boogie, Luke Doty, Vershon, T.J. We have a lot of older guys that are leaders on this team. Debo is right there at the top. He was a voice last year on our team and brought great leadership to the team and defense in particular. This year is no different. He has been that way since January. He does a great job of that. I talked to him on the phone last night about some stuff that needed to get handled and he gets it done. He has been awesome.”

On what he saw from the o-line that can help them going against UK

“We played really, really hard on the offensive line. I can’t remember if I said this Sunday night on the teleconference before it got cut off. Go back and watch Cason Henry on the fourth and one that we handed the ball off to Rocket. You want to see the mentality that we want to play with on the offensive line, watch Cason Henry on that play. Our offensive line played really, really hard. Josiah Thompson started at left tackle as a true freshman. I am sure you guys can appreciate how hard that is to do in the SEC. It is two years in a row we have now done that. He didn’t look lost as a freshman. He played really, really hard. There is one blitz pickup issue that I am sure he would like to have back. He didn’t look lost as a freshman. Having Vershon out there as the older guy to kind of settle everyone down. I thought he was great. He was one of our players of the game as a staff after we looked at it. Yes, we had some protection issues that we certainly have to get cleaned up. That comes back to us as coaches. I am excited about our offensive line as they continue to develop and guys continue to gain experience. This number 0, he can absolutely wreck your entire game plan. Not like mess up a play, he can wreck your entire game plan. He is a load to handle but it is not just him. (J.J. Weaver) on the outside is a really good player. Nobody talks about the others guys they have inside, (Tre’vonn Rybka), (Octavious Oxendine) and (Keeshawn Silver). They are very twitchy and athletic and very disruptive inside. We have to do a great job on the offensive line this week for us to be able to do the things that we want to do offensively.”

On the connection between Sellers, WRs

“I thought we just looked off and we weren’t clicking on all cylinders. I would be lying if I sat up here and said we were. The ball over there to Nyck on their sideline was just a high throw. I think that is probably more mechanics by LaNorris that we will get cleaned up without a doubt. For the most part, I thought he threw the ball well. Certainly, there were some misreads and some plays that he would like to have back just like calls Dowell would like to have back and plays that our other guys would, as well. We need to be better. There is no question about it. I don’t like it. I hate to say it, but we are continuing to gel as a receiving with the quarterback. Three of those guys, Dre, Camp and Nyck, didn’t go through spring practice and we are trying to do it as fast as we can. We should have been better than what we were on Saturday afternoon. There is no question about it. We are 88 days away from the Clemson game so we don’t have a lot of time to sit around and wait and wait for this thing to gel. We have to gel right now. We can’t sit around and wait for it to happen. We have to make it happen because each day, we are getting closer to the end of the regular season and we have to come together pretty quickly here.”

On the players wanting to improve on communication

“I appreciate them saying that. I don’t quite know if it is necessarily communication. The one that I would say would be a communication issue was maybe the deep pass we gave up to Old Dominion early in the game. That was a little bit of malfunction with the coach to player helmet communication that everything didn’t get quite conveyed like it needed to get conveyed. Having said that, we can’t allow someone to run past us even if there is a break down in the communication. The rest of the stuff. I appreciate of them saying that and certainly, we need to communicate better. Overall, I thought it was good. The quarterback run, that wasn’t a communication issue. That was just not being in our gap aspect. Some of the mishaps that we had on offense, I don’t know if it was necessarily a communication issue. It was just not executing which starts with us as coaches. We will be better. It is not going to be any easier. We were at home where it is easier to communicate. We are going to be on the road in front of 60-plus thousand on Saturday on national television where it is going to be harder to communicate. I didn’t have a lot of issues with the communication aspect of it. Certainly, I think as you play more and guys get more and more confident, the best teams that I have been around are the guys that communicate and talk the most. We need to do that, without a doubt.”

On the red zone struggles

“It’s concerning because it is two years in a row I have come in here in the first game and talked about red zone issues in the first game. I am sure you guys remember the North Carolina game last year, we had three possessions inside the 22-yard line or 25-yard line that we didn’t score touchdowns on. It was a  factor in that North Carolina game. Certainly, the other day, we didn’t do a good enough job in the red zone. It’s everything. It’s calls. It’s execution. Quarterback, running back, receiver, tight end, offensive line, coaches where we all just need to be better. It wasn’t anything where we said, ‘Oh my God. The is an absolute break down.’ It is hard down there in the red zone. We have to be better about getting the ball in the end zone than we were on Saturday.”

More on the helmet communication and if there were any other issues

“I don’t think so. I think the biggest issue is, it cuts off at 15 seconds and I believe I am correct in saying this, it comes back on manually. It is not like an automatic button where as soon as the guy gets tackled, it automatically just turns back on. I believe there is an actual human being that turns it on and off. If I am wrong on that, I apologize. When you are playing teams that go really, really fast, we need the guy that turns the helmet communication back on to turn it back on really, really fast and not waiting for the referee to wind the 40-second clock or referee to give him a signal. We have to go. No excuse. We have to be able to get calls in and execute. We just had a little bit of a delay being able to communicate on that particular play. I am not blaming the helmet communication because we gave up a deep ball. We have to overcome that. We also need to make sure that we are able to talk to our players as soon as the play was over because the offense is rolling.”

On his favorite Kyle Kennard play from Saturday

“All of them. I am not trying to dodge the question. All of them. When you have that many pressures and hits, there were a lot of good ones. I appreciate with the way that he plays I am pleased with that whole EDGE room. Kyle, Dylan, JT, Gilber, Des, get BT back healthy. That’s a good group. I like the way we can keep throwing people at teams.”

On what allowed Dylan Stewart to be so explosive

“Obviously, God blessed that young man with a lot of ability. That is the firs thin. Two, Sterling Lucas has done a great job coaching him up. Being able to bring a lot of different pass rush moves, whatever you want to call it. His physicality, his speed, like I said, his God-given ability that helps him and then Sterling’s coaching that allowed him to do that. Then, you have to give credit to the other 10 players out there, as well, for both of those guys. Some of those pressures, sacks, d-line gains or d-line pressures where there is other people involved and somebody is doing their job and Dylan is the one that happens to come free or Kyle happens to come free. That is what was about to happen on the long quarterback run. We just didn’t execute it like we needed to. DBs and linebackers covering making that quarterback hold on to the ball and not be able to get rid of the ball quick. It is a great credit to our defense as a whole unit.”

On if he likes taking calls from fans

“We were 2-6 at one point last year so you get a little worried about calls when you are 2-6. One, we have great fans. I enjoy that aspect of it. They have the right to call in and if they think we are doing a crappy job, they have every right to call in and question what we are doing and tell me I am doing a crappy job. I understand why Dabo did it and not disagreeing with it. I don’t mind that aspect of it. We take questions from studio audience as you guys know and people that are in the crowd and people that are willing to call in as well. I always look forward to hearing from Hampton from Ohio who typically calls in every week and whoever else calls in. I enjoy it. Part of one of the things that makes college football great. We are 1-0, I may change my tune as we go.”

On if he was surprised that the passing game wasn’t clicking

“Surprised, maybe. Did I think that we would throw the ball better on Saturday or more efficiently than what we did? Sure, I did. I knew it was going to be a challenge, also. Quarterback starting his first game and a lot of new people around him. I didn’t expect us to go out and throw for 400 yards against that style of defense and we really wanted to run the football and that is why we ran it 50-something times or whatever it was on Saturday. We need to be better because I thought we would be better on Saturday and have every confidence in the world that we will be going forward. At the same time, I know the challenges that style of defense presents just because they take away your easy access throw. It is easy for people to say, ‘Just throw hitches and throw slants.’ They take away a lot of that with the way they play defense. It is very much a 3-3, 3-1 type look and there are a lot of guys back there and they all fit the run from different places and they all can drop into coverage from different places. Certainly, there are some things schematically that we could have done better to help for sure. We connect on some of those throws, we are probably not in here on Tuesday talking about the passing game. I know first hand, when I was at Oklahoma and we were playing in that league, that was like the in vogue defense because Iowa State ran it and Iowa State came down there they year that Oklahoma had Baker Mayfield in 2017 and Iowa State came down there and it kind of became the in vogue defense of the league. Then, Baylor starts running it the year that Baylor played for the Big 12 championship against us. Iowa State continued to and then Texas started dabbling in it. I know from coaching tight ends at Oklahoma and working with Lincoln, it presented challenges. If you go back and look at a lot of those games, we lost to Iowa State when I was at Oklahoma and Baylor I think had us down one year 28-3 on a Saturday night and came back and beat them later in the year in the Big 12 Championship, if I am not mistaken. It presents challenges. We weren’t the only team that has struggled with that, there is no question about it. Having said that, do we need to better, absolutely. Our players know that. Our coaches understand that. No one is happy in this building with the offensive performance, at all. We can be better on defense. We busted two things and gave up about 120 yards of defense on two plays. Special teams was sloppy in some ways. We all need to be better, and there is no question about it, starting with me.”

On problems a dual threat QB presents

“It’s another threat. Normally, if you are coaching defense, you are worried about the running back and not so much worried about the quarterback. You don’t have to account for that guy. There are games defensively where we have gone into a game saying, ‘If they run zone read and the quarterback pulls it, great. We are not worried about the quarterback. Make him pull it.’ I don’t think teams can necessarily say that about us and it presents problems. Do we want to run LaNorris 20 times like we did the other night, no. The fact that you can do something different things formational and get people out of the box but still have the ability with a 240-pound running back to run the ball downhill presents problems for defenses. I got home last night in time to see the fourth quarter of the Florida State game and that quarterback for Boston College is a little different type of player than LaNorris as far as size goes and he can do a lot with his feet and certainly throw it. That is what excites me about this offense. As we continue to get this passing game going and LaNorris gets more and more comfort, we can do a lot and present problems to teams because of the ability to run and show.”

On Nyck Harbor and if he someone they want to scheme looks for him

“We want to scheme stuff for him. We have a lot of guys that we need to get touches, if you will, and try to find ways to get the ball in their hands. Whether it be the running back position or tight end or receiver. Nyck, there is no question about it. He is a guy that presents a lot of problems to defenses even if it is just the threat of him running past people and catching deep balls. We have to continue to and we have certainly had in the past and will continue to, also.”

On building the chemistry between wide receivers and Sellers

“I think you just continue to work. That is the thing that I told our players this morning and I read this one time or someone said it, be willing to do the unrequired. If we just think as a team that we are able to come in and come to meetings each day and then go out on the practice field for a couple hours each day and take off at 12 noon and we will see you tomorrow and you don’t think about football and you don’t put in extra time to think it is just going to happen, it probably isn’t. Be willing to do the unrequired meaning the extra work and whatnot. That is the thing. You can’t force feed it but, to me, you keep your head down and you continue to work and maximize every rep in practice and being able to do extra stuff which I thought it was great. Monday is the players off day and I was walking through here yesterday morning and you have Luke Doty and Robby Ashford watching tape together and the DBs are always in here on their own and you see people down there getting extra stuff done in the training room or weight room. One of our backup long snappers goes in the indoor on Mondays on their own just to practice their snapping, as well. Just stuff like that that we have a lot of, don’t get me wrong. We just need to continue to do that, stay the course and it will come. It is a long way to game 12 but it is not and then it is 88 days away. That is probably the biggest thing. Every day, every rep in practice matters. Every meeting matters. The more and more comfortable we can get, the better we will be clicking here really soon. Hopefully Saturday.”