South Carolina linebackers exploring new rotation for Furman game
After South Carolina’s linebacker depth took a big hit in Week 1, head coach Shane Beamer and defensive coordinator Clayton White are finding ways to prepare younger guys to step in and help.
Unfortunately for the Gamecocks, those adjustments had to be made with a travel roster in Charlotte first — not back at the team’s practice fields.
Stone Blanton and Debo Williams played more snaps than Beamer and White expected them to. But with Mo Kaba’s season-ending injury occurring just minutes into the first quarter of the 31-17 loss to North Carolina, Beamer and White were forced to play the pair the entire game.
Now in Week 2, it’s an “urgent” situation the Gamecocks are trying to fix.
“It’s very urgent,” White said during coordinator interviews Wednesday, “It’s an every day thing, every night, every text message, every phone call, every FaceTime.”
Being thin at linebacker is an issue, considering the Gamecocks’ previous patterns with their in-game rotation. For the most part, USC relies on its two starters for the majority of snaps and changes personnel for a few series as the game progresses. Sherrod Greene and Brad Johnson, super seniors a year ago, played most of the snaps at linebacker before they exhausted their eligibility.
Originally, Kaba was supposed to have about 30 plays Saturday, White said, but things changed after the injury. That’s when Blanton and Williams went in for the duration.
“They played, I think was, 70 plays plus,” Beamer said. “Now Stone certainly could tell you he would do it and all that, but we don’t want to have to ask our guys to play that many plays.”
Blanton and Williams combined for 24 tackles during the season opener. It was a career-high for both players, at 10 and 14.
But that doesn’t change how “unsustainable” Beamer views it. Even if Blanton and Williams continue playing the majority of snaps the remainder of the season, playing every single one isn’t an option the Gamecocks’ head coach and defensive coordinator want to deal with.
“What Stone and Debo did, that won’t happen again the rest of the year,” White said. “I’ll make sure. But I knew going into game one, that’s a big game. I had to protect some kids.”
White said four players are getting practice reps in — Blanton, Williams, Grayson Howard and Bam Martin-Scott. All four were listed on the Gamecocks’ two-deep earlier this week. Martin-Scott is listed second, after Williams.
Howard, a true freshman, has been recovering from a preseason injury, and Martin-Scott didn’t even travel to Charlotte last week.
In addition to the four linebackers listed on two-deep, White also said Ronnie Porter, Andrew Colasurdo, Colin Bryant and Jaron Willis are all “developmental guys” and could earn some playing time against Furman.
The four younger players all played during the spring game, but that’s about it. Ideally, Saturday’s game against Furman could be a chance for some of these developmental players to get experience before the Gamecocks turn their attention to conference games.
It’s not much time to get used to a new rotation, particularly with Georgia lurking next week. But it’s USC’s current situation, and White and Beamer, ideally, will have a better idea after facing the Paladins.
Until then, it’s on-the-job training.
South Carolina vs. Furman game, TV/stream info
Who: South Carolina (0-1) vs. Furman (1-0)
Where: Williams-Brice Stadium, Columbia
When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday
Watch: Streaming on SEC Network Plus and ESPN+
