Oct. 22—COLUMBIA — Ask about the offense and it's a simple answer. There was never anything wrong with the scheme or personnel; there was plenty wrong with the quarterback-receiver dynamics.
That got figured out in a win at Florida, and how. But how did the defense spin on a 180-degree dime and post its best game of the season?
"It was just one of those days where we just kept preaching one play at a time, the next play, the next play. Florida obviously made some plays, but where we wanted to make sure we did a good job was just flushing the play and moving on to the next one," Clayton White said. "I thought that's been a really good formula for us. It's just playing one play at a time, one game, one quarter, just one play, the next play."
Surely there must be more. A tweak, a call, an inspirational speech (they were in The Swamp, site of Tebow's Promise). Especially playing three starters down and then losing another in the first quarter.
It had to be more than just being purposely forgetful that South Carolina's defense was teeth-bared nasty against the Gators when it had been the mongrel under the porch for the three weeks previous.
Nope. It was what they said it was.
They got sick and tired of being sick and tired, and did something about it.
"The Florida game was just the game we pretty much put it together as best we had this season so far," safety Gerald Kilgore said. "We're only going to continue to get better."
Florida gained 387 yards, 120 on the ground, and scored 19 points. The Gamecocks are now 57th in the country in total defense (340.8 yards per game) and 30th in rushing D (103.7), which has been strong all year.
That's because the passing defense has been so disgusting. The Florida game elevated it to 106th out of 138 in the nation, which gives you some idea about how miserable it was before Gainesville.
They played their assignments, didn't lose receivers, filled gaps. The Gamecocks recorded three sacks, a recovered fumble and two interceptions (plus another one when Jamian Risher picked off a two-point conversion).
It's hard to imagine there isn't a concrete reason for it. If there was, it would be easy to point to it as an answer to, "Can they repeat that this week against a power-running Tennessee team that may not do it as much, but can still fling the leather off the ball?"
Confidence helps. USC shut down Jadan Baugh, so can it also take out DeSean Bishop? And can the secondary, which contained Aaron Philo, mimic that with George McIntyre?
"I don't really think it was a big switch. I just think guys finally were executing the calls. In the three losses we had, coach White called a hell of a game. Players got to take accountability," lineman Tomiwa Durojaiye said. "It's been games where I've said to my position coach, 'He's calling the perfect play.' The biggest thing was just guys taking accountability and executing the play-call and guys being playmakers."
The Vols will still try to play fast (Josh Heupel's trademark) but their strength is running the ball with Bishop. Lot of two-tight end, one-RB sets and he's the one RB that is second in the SEC in rushing, and White thinks is first in breaking tackles and gaining yards after contact.
The Gamecocks' defensive front will definitely need to be on its toes but the secondary won't get an easy day. It's still shown too much to let Tennessee think it can get something going in the air.
"I think there was some excitement for sure. 'Let's stop messing around, really, and let's really go out there and take care of our business every single play. Every single play, let's take care of our job, and let's see how the outcome becomes,'" White described as the secondary's mentality in Gainesville. "'Let's not worry about what-if this and what-if that. Let's just worry about the next play, the next call, my next assignment, where am I putting my feet and my eyes in the very next play and just really lock in on that and just see what happens.'"
It will be interesting to see if USC can carry one sterling performance over the bye week to the next game, and the same for Tennessee, which dominated Alabama defensively and did just enough to get by offensively last week.
The Gamecocks have had an extra week to relax and enjoy their last performance, but forgetting it has to be immediate once Saturday arrives.
Follow David Cloninger on Twitter at @DCPandC
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