Where Shane Beamer says USC defense needs to improve after Mississippi State game
Quarterback Will Rogers threw for nearly 500 yards against South Carolina on Saturday night, and Mississippi State still lost.
But Lideatrick “Tulu” Griffin was the bigger problem for the Gamecocks, particularly in the second half. South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer said containing Griffin was one of the keys to winning the game. So he was less than pleased that Griffin had over 200 receiving yards in that first half.
South Carolina held on to win the game 37-30.
“The other key was control number seven (Jo’quavious Marks), and control number five (Griffin),” Beamer said. “And we did a good job of controlling the running back held him to 27 yards rushing, but my gosh, seven catches for 256 yards for Griffin — embarrassing, frankly.”
Beamer at halftime challenged the defense to pick up the pace.
“We came in at halftime and told the guys that we’re doing everything that we’re supposed to be doing except we’re not controlling number five,” Beamer said. “And last night at our team meeting, TJ Sanders got up to say we’re not letting 7 and 5 beat us.”
It was better in the second half, Beamer said, and Griffin finished with 265 receiving yards, while Rogers had 487 yards to go with the touchdown and interception.
It also helped that the team’s pass rushing was better in the second half, which aided the defensive backs more — rather than leaving them stranded on an island one-on-one with the speedy Griffin.
Once the defensive line was able to get more pressure on Mississippi State’s QB, it became easier to contain Griffin and Marks, Beamer said.
“We can talk about our defensive backs all we want,” Beamer said. “Somebody’s gotta win up front. Will Rogers doesn’t need 10 seconds to sit back there in the pocket to throw balls over our heads. We needed to generate a pass rush. We did a much better job of affecting the quarterback in the second half.”
In the end, the Gamecocks allowed 10 passing plays of 15 or more yards — including five of 30 or more yards.
South Carolina did finish the game with eight pass breakups to go along with two quarterback hurries and four sacks.
“We can’t call pressures to get pressures on the quarterback. We’ve got to be able to rush four and get pressure on the quarterback and help our defensive backs out,” Beamer said. “When we do that, we’ve got to win. We did a better job of winning those one-on-one battles in the second half.”
Beamer said, overall, he was glad to get the first SEC win of the season, even if it wasn’t a perfect game. He said he expected Mississippi State to come out with lots of fight after their loss to LSU last week, even with the amount of receiving yards Rogers registered.
Having that win this week meant USC can gain some extra confidence before heading to Knoxville next week to face Tennessee.
“We needed this one, obviously,” Beamer said. “But certainly needed a win and happy for our players because they worked really hard and gave themselves the opportunity to win tonight.”
This story was originally published September 24, 2023 at 12:02 AM with the headline "Where Shane Beamer says USC defense needs to improve after Mississippi State game."
