Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] On this episode of Cox Talking Game, Cox men's soccer continues their hot start. Football has a bye week, and I take the time to look back as to where the team stands. Okay, here we go.
[00:00:56] Okay. Welcome to episode 263 of Cox Talking Gamecocks. I am your host, Tim Cox, where I will keep every episode from 1801 to 2001. And first off, I hope everyone out there is staying safe. I hope you're staying dry. This has been a hell of a last couple of days we've had with all the storms in the southeast, ranging from Florida all the way up to, like, the mountains of North Carolina, going into Tennessee. Absolutely crazy. So no matter where you're listening to this, I hope you're staying safe, staying dry, relaxing. If we're going to put a positive spin on it, you know, great to just lock yourself inside, eat and drink, watch the weather Channel, play some NCAA. You know, there's, there's. There's a few things you can do. I was just. I was negative, productive at work during the storm. Like, it's just. It feels criminal to ask me to do something when it's just dumping rain outside and I'm trying to track a hurricane. I'm a nerd like that. I'm a weather nerd. I love getting into tracking the storms. But in all seriousness, hope everyone is staying safe and staying dry, especially if you're on campus. It's crazy out there with the hills and all that jazz. Just stay home, hang out, do your thing there. But got a couple of housekeeping notes for y'all here because it is a bye weekend, I will be taking this episode to look back at to where things stand four games into the season. Yes. But because there really won't be much going on on Saturday and Sunday, especially from the football team, I, too, will be taking a bye week. There will be no episode on a Monday that's in line for what I've done in years past. You know, show business is hard, and you know me, Shane Beamer, you know, we put a lot of hours into the things that we love. So I think we both deserve a break here and there. So no episode on Monday, but we'll pick right back up on next Friday to preview the Ole Miss game. So stay tuned for that. Not going to give away any spoilers or anything like that. But before I jump into discussing the football team here, got a quick weekend review for y'all here from Tuesday. Two updates here. Men's golf finished third in the Tyndall opening, which was out in Washington state. So how about that we'll take a third place finish in golf and then men's soccer. They beat Queens University 30 and sneakily with a really nice record. Men's soccer sitting at five and one. So how about that? Those guys are rolling just off a three nil winter. It's awesome. I love Carolina soccer. Stone Stadium rocks when that place is jumping. Shout out to the men's soccer team. And shout out to the women's soccer team, too. Both soccer teams deserve some love here. Their soccer match, the women's, that is. They were supposed to play on Thursday, but because of the storm, was postponed. They were set to play Mississippi State. So I'm sure that game will be made up at a later date.
[00:04:08] But looking at the football team here, not talking about a later date, we're talking about the current date here. This will be the first of two bye week episodes. Obviously, the team has two buys this year. Normally they've fallen more in that middle of the year. And it's allowed me to do more of a retrospective as to where the team stands to that point in the year. We're four games into it. I'm going to review where the team is at, of course, but it's a unique spot to be in. Where kind of like a football game, right? We're one quarter down. You know, you get twelve games in the regular season. We're four into it.
[00:04:51] Oh, no, that's a third. Whoops.
[00:04:54] That's live math for you there. So we're a third of the way through the year. Like a hockey game. There we go. Like a hockey game, but third of the way here. So you have the majority of your season left. So the team can still be improving and changing to what we're talking about this at some point in November, right? So you have the Gamecock sitting at three and one. And yes, context matters because any fan feels like we should be sitting at 40. But the fact of the matter is, if I told you in July that South Carolina would be at three and one, you absolutely would have taken that 100%. We would have signed up for three and one at the buy with momentum. So let's take a quick look back at how did we get here? Week one, South Carolina beat old Dominion 23 to 19. What a fricking struggle that game was. Talk about weather. That game had that mysterious weather delay. I was there. It didn't sprinkle in the stands in Columbia yet. We had a 40 minutes weather delay or so.
[00:06:06] You had this offense that clearly was just not on the same page. Clearly was struggling with the defense that old Dominion put out there. But it was also the first time that we saw this defense, and I think we left that game feeling like we might have a defense here because we talked about it in the offseason. You look at the roster and you say this defense might actually be pretty good. And that was the first time we saw it on display. Kyle Canard, Dylan Stewart, all of them getting after it. And then despite the struggles of the offense, you end up getting that lead later in the game, holding on to it, and you get away with want to know. But everyone knew that the offense that we saw was not what we were promised, especially what we saw out of Lenores. He himself acknowledged. Maybe there were some nerves involved, but we had to believe that things were going to get better. Which leads us to week two in South Carolina. Beats Kentucky on the road extremely convincingly, 31 to six. And that game confirmed that we do, in fact, have a defense that can shut down an SEC caliber offense. And you actually saw that offense look, frankly, night and day. There were a few hiccups here and there. Absolutely. But compared to week one, that offense looked much, much better. You saw the passing game look more crisp. Maisie O'Bennett started to emerge there. Josh Simon looked good. Rocket really came on strong at the end there, and Lenoris looked much more in control. There were a few things where he took bad sacks. There were turnovers on that side of the ball. So you still said, okay, that was a great win. I'll absolutely take that. But we still need to improve, especially on the offensive side of the ball there.
[00:08:06] Which brings us to week three.
[00:08:09] South Carolina drops the game to LSU 36 to 33. I'm not going to get into it leaves the team at two and one. And then week four, South Carolina beats Akron 50 to seven. I will say the, the thing of note that came from the LSU game was you saw, especially in that first half before Lenoris went down, you saw a team that was really clicking on all cylinders, and it was very impressive to watch. And you saw exactly what can make Lenoris Sellers so deadly with the long run. And then you also have RB, one rocket who can take it and break that long run. You saw the passing game looking very well. You saw the defense getting after it. So you really did start to see this team starting to take the next step. The biggest development outside of how that game ended, of course, was Lenoris's health. Because week four, you roll in and you beat Akron. You wipe the floor with Akron and you win 50 to seven. On the shoulders of Robbie Ashford, who played splendidly in a defense that came out with something to prove, and they certainly did that. So you're sitting at three and one and you have to be feeling good about that. But the funny thing is, I still feel like we've yet to see, really, this team come together fully. The closest I think we saw was Kentucky, but there were still some growing pains against that Kentucky team. And you look at the schedule and you look at what the team has going on for itself, and I sit back there and I say, I think this team is set to continue to develop. And this bye week comes at a fantastic time because you have a couple of guys at key positions who need to get that extra rest. And Akron provided that really nice opportunity where you had the luxury of saying, lenoris, obviously we're not going to push you, but this is nothing. You know, let's just hypothetically say here Missouri, and we're going for our fifth or our 6th win. Excuse me, right? Like the stakes were a little bit lower. So the bye week comes at a fantastic time where Lenoris can get healthy. You got to hope that rocket can get healthy. Other guys are a little banged up, Jared Brown comes to mind, but you got to be feeling good about where you're at.
[00:10:39] And I got some stats here to pull things up here to put that in context for us here, just to kind of know where exactly does this team stand and where can we go from here? So looking at the defensive side of the ball here, they are ranked 10th in the SEC, giving up 17 points per game. The call out here is they are two points per game behind 9th place. So you're effectively at 9th place in the SEC in points allowed. I think this stat is skewed because in first place, I believe it was ole miss with like less than seven points allowed per game. But you look at their schedule, they've played nobody. So when we talk about who South Carolina has played, I think this is a more accurate representation of the defense than some of these other teams in the league that are, you know, ahead of South Carolina right now. But to compare that from last season, right, this season, South Carolina is giving up 17 points per game. Last season they ended the year giving up 26.3 points per game. So nearly ten points better this point in the year compared to the end of the year. Last year. Kyle Kennard is leading the conference and tackles for loss and sacks. What a pickup he has been. And when you look at his numbers while at Georgia Tech, they were fine. They were good. I think the last year he was at Tech he had six sacks, I want to say, and three or four of them actually came in just one game. But he was good. He has taken his game to the next level and you have to credit Sterling Lucas, coach Robertson, Clayton White and everybody getting the most out of him. And you have to give him credit because he has consistently performed week in and week out. Nick Eman Warri and Jalen Kilgore are tied for third in the SEC in interceptions, both with two. Dylan Stewart and Kyle Kennard are part of a tie atop the SEC and fumbles forced with two apiece. So all around, at different levels of defense, you're seeing guys perform. Now, if you're going to nitpick an aspect of the defense, I would say it is the rush defense. But when you look at it, the Gamecocks are barely giving up more than 100 yards a game and they sit at 9th in the conference. And I feel like the LSU game skews that a little bit, which, you know, results matter, right? You needed to defend the run better against LSU and you didn't necessarily. But in the other games you defended the run pretty darn well, especially Kentucky and Akron, of course. But we have seen that it needs to be a point of emphasis during this off week because if they can get that corrected, this is a defense that can crack the top eight for sure in the SEC.
[00:13:46] I love the depth of this defense as well. I mean, even when you look at a guy like Fred junior Johnson playing linebacker as a freshman, a little bit, bam. Martin, Scott, someone like DeAndre Jules on the defensive line, it allows Clayton White to rotate these guys in and out, play his defense, and guys are just noticeably more fresh than they were last year, especially in that front seven. Now, the secondary is a little thin and Nick and DQ have been asked to do a lot, but so far they have held up very well. I bet you they are very grateful for a week off to rest and recover. And arguably the key to the rest of the season is really this defense holding up and continuing to play well.
[00:14:35] Now, looking at the offense here, the guys are 9th in the SEC, recording 34.3 points per game, which is wild when you see that because last year the team averaged 26 points per game and it was certainly a struggle at times. But you can kind of look back and you just, in your mind, you play these highlights of Xavier, Leggette and Rattler, but it really was a struggle and the, the numbers don't lie there. Through four games, Carolina is about eight points, right? Touchdown, an extra point better than they were last year despite breaking in a red shirt freshman quarterback. And that really does not look like a fluke because the defenses that Kentucky has and LSU, like they're talented. Kentucky is a very good defense. LSU jury still out a little bit, but you're playing high quality defenses that you're, you're not playing scrubs. Like you look at some of these schedules at the SEC, you know, Mizzou, Ole Miss, like they're not really playing anybody to this point in the year. South Carolina is definitely more battle tested going into this week as, as a buy, granted, than many other programs are. And when you think about it, you know, you're getting ready to play Ole Miss in a week or so.
[00:15:55] They're just hitting their first SEC game. I think they're playing Kentucky, so they're going to be tested and they might be scrambling to correct a few things where South Carolina has already played two good teams in Kentucky and LSU, they, you know, had to tweak some things even after old Dominion. And now you have a week off to say how can we get better? What looks give us trouble, how can we correct it? And things like that. But the story of the season on the offense, really, it has been the growth and will continue to be the growth of Lenora Sellers, really, for the rest of the season.
[00:16:32] South Carolina is sitting 13th in the league and passing offense. If Lenoris can continue to take those steps forward and we saw what we saw against Kentucky and in the first half against LSU, that is a sign of good things to come. The emergence of Rocket Sanders was such a welcomed sight, especially after what we saw last season. We have to hope that he takes this week to get healthy. Hope it's not anything serious. The Gamecocks are currently 7th in the SEC and rushing with a 192 yards per game. Rocket himself is 9th in the SEC, but this offense, you know, it's still a work in progress, frankly. And this bye week comes at a great time to get healthy. And like I was just alluding to do some self scouting because you have had a couple of weak points and third down being one of them, right? Third down conversions. South Carolina ranks 15th, so you have to find a way to be better on third down. I think they flashed the stat up in the Akron game that they were towards the bottom of the SEC, but then in fourth down conversions, funny enough, they're right at the top, so you don't want to be getting into that position. So what are we doing to avoid third and longs. When we are in the third and mediums or less, what are we doing? Are we predictable? Can we have a couple of different plays that we like, that we can mix up in disguise enough? You have a mobile quarterback play action rollouts, fantastic for third down conversions, read options, fantastic rpos. All of these things are open. And again, I understand that Lenoris was banged up second half of LSU. Things looked completely different. Even Akron, you know, there were a few drives where third downs were a struggle. So hopefully with a healthy Lenoris, a lot of this changes, but the defenses you're getting ready to play are quite good.
[00:18:34] When we look at the wide receivers on the Gamecocks, you definitely feel like that group is more settled than it was going into the year. And I got to give the credit here to Maisie O'Bennett. I mean, true freshman playing incredibly well this week is perfect for him as well to continue to hone his skills, but that group needs to continue to work, develop. You got question marks like can gage Larvidane continue to shine? Jared Brown was looking good before he got hurt. Can he get back to 100%? What does it look like when those two guys are on the field at the same time Vandravius has flashed? Can he be this big threat down the stretch? Maybe as well. We need to see these things come more into focus over the next few weeks. I don't necessarily think we're going to come out of the gate against Ole Miss and we're going to have wide receivers one through four figured out, but over the next few weeks, call it, you know, into the next bye week, we need to figure out who our playmakers are on the outside. And, you know, when we're talking about figuring things out, how can we not talk about the offensive line?
[00:19:48] You know, truth be told, they are better than they were last year.
[00:19:53] It's an easy position group to pick at when things don't go right, but they're better than they were last year. They've stayed healthy and, you know, they're better than last year because last year was so awful that all we wanted to see was some improvement. And we have seen that. We have seen a better offensive line than they were last year.
[00:20:17] With that said, it's still not great.
[00:20:21] Carolina has given up far too many sacks and the challenge will only get harder, especially with these next three opponents that we have coming up. Despite having some success on the ground as well, I don't think we've seen the line getting a good enough push to consistently run between the tackles as well. So this week, next week needs, they need to work on these things.
[00:20:48] This group has had four games together in the past. We've heard that they needed time and they needed to work on things to get the chemistry and things like that. Even in camp you were hearing these things because guys were rotating to different positions. You've had plenty of time to get gelled and to build that chemistry. If it's not there, then it's time to put someone else in there, like Tree or Trojan. Baugh penalties have also been a concern for this team so far. I don't know what the fix is, but I certainly hope Beemer works on that with this extra time off as well. So you look at it and you say, okay, this offense has been good enough to get to three and one. It was tough to see Lenoris go down because if he doesn't, I think we're four and o, but you are where you're at. You're three and one. But even with those guys being banged up, the Gamecocks are sitting in a good position. And the way I see it, the best is yet to come because the offense in particular is a unit that just has to play together and they need that game experience to develop and build that chemistry. I think you see that when you look at Rocket, sure. But Jared Brown, before he got hurt week one, he had that bad drop. Him and Lenoris, you know, were almost on the same page there. Week two, week three, he was looking better. You just need those game reps. You can only learn so much in practice. And I think you saw that with Rocket, too. He got better as the game went on against Kentucky, he looked great. Against LSU, unfortunately goes down against Akron. So the more that they play, they've only played, what, two, three games ish as a full unit. Like all the starters together, they'll only continue to get better. So for Dowel loggins, you know, his goal needs to be to continue to build on the strengths of Lenoris and work out how can he get more of the passing game. Who else can help out in the running game? Who is RB two? And additionally, he needs to work with coach Teasley to get the offensive line to take a step forward.
[00:22:59] But overall, for the Gamecocks, I mean, you're sitting at this by in a good spot. You got three wins before October.
[00:23:07] And when we looked at the schedule at the start of the year, a lot of people didn't think that that was going to happen.
[00:23:13] That's where we're at. We have a good defense and a good run game and those things can keep you in games and they travel. As we saw in week two, Lenoris needs to get healthy. I got to believe that by this time next week, we're hearing that he's moving well and everything like that.
[00:23:34] He can take us some places. Wide receivers need to tighten things up. The defense, you got to just tighten the screws just a little bit here and there.
[00:23:43] This team right now is sitting good, and I feel good about our team. I think we have a good team. These next three games are going to be a huge test. And I wouldn't necessarily say it's not make or break or anything like that. You're on the road for two out of the next three.
[00:24:01] Each team is ranked nationally. Two of them are ranked in the top ten, mid top five. Even. So, it's a big challenge.
[00:24:11] But if this team has shown you anything, weeks two and week three, they can surprise people. And maybe they don't surprise as many SEC coaches now, but this team can make people pay for mistakes. They can cause chaos, and that team can take you places. So I'm feeling good going into this bye week. Priority number one for the Gamecocks has to be get healthy. Do what you can to get these guys treatment. Come out of this bye week ready to go healthy. Full strength across the board. But enjoy your weekend. Gamecocks stress free. Great football on too. Enjoy it. But that wraps up this episode. Please follow me on social media, Twitter or X is Cox Gamecocks. Instagram is just the name of the show. Cox talking Gamecocks. And please, like subscribe and review the podcast. I appreciate all y'all. Go cox.
