Breaking down a critical second half: How South Carolina flipped things on Auburn
The South Carolina football team had already started to turn things against Auburn.
The Gamecocks had cashed in on Jaycee Horn’s first career interception to cut a Tigers lead from nine to two at halftime (aided by a late stop). That’s a spot South Carolina has been in before, in a tight game and trying to get back on top.
In the past two years, that often hasn’t happened. It did Saturday, with USC grinding out the 30-22 victory.
The State did an in-depth rewatch of the second half to figure out exactly how the Gamecocks pulled it out.
Auburn ball, 15:00 Q3, ball on own 25
This was the sort of drive that can get a team in trouble. For the first two plays, USC’s defense did a great job rallying to the ball on runs. But then back-to-back penalties and other bits of sloppy play got Auburn down to the USC 25.
The Gamecocks survived and held on red zone defense and Horn just being excellent. They stretched out a sweep and got a tackle from a corner, managed to fill the hole on a QB counter run and then Horn simply made great defensive play to turn the threat into a field goal.
Score: Auburn 19, South Carolina 14
South Carolina ball, 10:22 Q3, ball on own 25
The Gamecocks rolled out a really nice mix of run plays, seeming to take advantage of Auburn on the edges. They often put Nick Muse and fullback Adam Prentice together on one side of the formation and got the ball there, including starting this drive with a nice toss to Kevin Harris.
But things started heating up when Gamecock offensive coordinator Mike Bobo decided to go a little against the grain and run on a third and medium. Needing 5 yards, Bobo went with a simple inside zone. The Tigers might have been dialing up an exotic pressure, but got badly misaligned and Harris had a gaping hole.
The next play was a nice moment for newly minted starting right tackle Jazston Turnetine. As he left a defensive end unblocked, he gave the defender a little shove in the back. He fell over, and Deshaun Fenwick had a massive lane to bend the run back into.
And that all set up Shi Smith perfectly high-pointing a jump ball over a defender with two inches on him.
Score: South Carolina 20, Auburn 19
Auburn ball, 6:31 Q3, ball on own 31
Gamecocks defensive end Tonka Hemingway started the drive with a simple tipped ball, an underrated play that goes into ending a possession. Simply losing a down without any chance of making a play makes life harder.
After the batted ball, defensive tackle Keir Thomas tore off his block to hold a potentially big QB run up the middle to just a yard, and Nix simply misfired on a potentially open in route short of the sticks.
Thomas stop:
South Carolina ball, 5:17 Q3, ball on own 29
This possession had a lot of promise, opening with a crafty call on a reverse to Dakereon Joyner and getting a boost with a pass interference drawn by Keveon Mullins.
The Gamecocks also made some hay on a nice, simple bootleg pass in the flat to fullback Adam Prentice, who carried the offense down to the Auburn 25.
But the possession ultimate yielded no points when an Auburn corner drove well on the ball, had it tip up on the collision and a Tigers defender caught it for the pick.
Auburn ball, 2:24 Q3, ball on own 18
South Carolina’s run defense mostly stood tall, though a solid pass against off-coverage did give the Tigers one first down.
Nix sprayed a ball high in Horn’s direction, then the former 5-star QB recruit put a ball outside when his receiver broke in. Horn made a top-flight play on the ball and was racing toward the opposite end zone.
South Carolina ball, 0:56 Q3, ball on Auburn 8
The Gamecocks went to an old favorite here. South Carolina ran pin-and-pull sweeps just like most of their running game last year, often to good effect. Here Harris gets it on that play and it clears things up for a TD.
Score: South Carolina 27, Auburn 19
Auburn ball, 0:54 Q3, ball on own 25
The drive starts with an underrated play. R.J. Roderick has been getting some heat of late from fans, but on the opening play he was called upon as a last line of defense and prevented Nix from getting into the open field on a keeper.
After a receiver fell over (with some contact), the Gamecocks made a third-down stop, took a penalty to make it third and long, and then gave up a massive play on a drag screen that also came back on a penalty.
South Carolina ball, 13:41 Q4, ball on own 21
After starting with a bad snap, the Gamecocks were pretty successful with a counter to make third down more manageable, and then Smith went ahead and delivered the kind of play that swings a game, juggling a 32-yard catch before hauling it in.
Then the Gamecocks worked away with jabs, a quick pass in the flat to Nick Muse for 9, an inside run with a fullback for 8, an inside zone for 4. Things petered out with a pass on a double move that bounced short and a third and 6 sweep where a backside linebacker came across the formation to make the stop. It ultimately got the Gamecocks the field goal for some breathing room.
Score: South Carolina 30, Auburn 19
Auburn ball, 9:13 Q4, ball on own 25
Explosive plays had hurt the Gamecocks and they got stung three times in a row here. Former USC recruiting target Tank Bigsby bent his run under a blitzing corner, and so-so run support meant giving up 30. An RPO slant and then a really well-executed counter run took the Tigers down to the USC 7.
But then the Gamecocks defense suddenly stood tall. Bigsby slipped on first down. The defense gave up a lot of push, but managed to drag down the defender on second down.
Third down was a master class in something that seems simple but isn’t. Auburn was looking to get a pick play of sorts, but Jaycee Horn and John Dixon passed off receivers with ease, leaving nowhere to throw the ball.
Score: South Carolina 30, Auburn 22
South Carolina ball, 6:39 Q4, ball on own 25
This drive probably drew a bit of fan ire because it was run-heavy in a clock-kill situation, but it was modestly effective. With a blend of run concepts, USC ground out one first down and got another on a third-down pass interference.
Things went sideways when Kevin Harris took a loss on first down, after the right defensive end shoved the USC left tackle into the backfield. The Gamecocks debuted a nifty nine-man front with Shi Smith as a pulling lead blocker (not to much effect), and then a sweep with the back on a counter track got a few more yards to keep the clock moving.
Auburn ball, 2:15 Q4, ball on own 20
This drive was eerily similar to the previous one: The Tigers getting chunk plays before fizzling out.
The start of the drive wasn’t great. A pass that probably wasn’t a catch was ruled a catch. Nix broke a scramble for 17. South Carolina gave up a free play on an offsides, and a few snaps later Nix scrambled down to the 18 for a 1st down with 1:10 left in the game.
And at that point, the USC defense bowed up again.
A solid tackle from linebacker Ernest Jones kept a dump-off pass to a running back to 4 yards, and then a more creative pressure yielded an intentional grounding. On third down, Nix scrambled and nearly had an open lane to the end zone, but Shilo Sanders came across the field to cut him off. On the game’s last play, the Gamecocks pulled back on the rush, sending only three, but Nix started scrambling out of the pocket anyway and was dragged down short of the sticks.
Other notes:
▪ Strongside linebacker Brad Johnson had been used for about 15 snaps through the first three games, but he seemed to get a little more run against Auburn, often rotating in as a Buck lineman with Kingsley Enagbare playing some end and the staff seeming to move bodies in and out.
▪ The Gamecocks got some good looks out of lining Prentice out on the wing at tight end. He’s probably either the second-best or best Gamecocks tight end in terms of blocking.
▪ Red zone defense has always been a staple for Will Muschamp teams, as it was vital in South Carolina’s success his first two years. Work there was vital against Auburn. Five Auburn drives got to the red zone and one ended a yard short. Those six possessions included three field goals and the late turnover on downs.
This story was originally published October 18, 2020 at 1:44 PM with the headline "Breaking down a critical second half: How South Carolina flipped things on Auburn."
