South Carolina Football: 3 much-needed fixes to make for 2020 season

1. Play some defense

Watching South Carolina football in the early stretch of 2019 was like watching a clinic on how not to tackle. Gamecock fans cringed as they saw moments like DJ Wonnum’s failure to bring down Alabama’s Najee Harris on a play where the Tide turned a fourth-and-three into a touchdown. These types of plays summed up the early stretch for the Gamecock defense.

Though the unit would see better times during the season, including the game of their lives against No. 3 Georgia, they were able to finish no better than 10th in the SEC for total defense in 2019. Injuries to Wonnum and OrTre Smith didn’t help their cause.

The unit was a factor in Carolina’s inability to close games. Will Muschamp cut his teeth as a defensive coordinator, and he was a defensive player himself, so an under-performing defense is certainly going to frustrate him.

The Gamecocks hope blue-chip defensive end Jordan Burch makes good on his promise to join the squad. Though he verbally committed in December, he elected not to sign his letter of intent until February. Burch, who starred at Columbia’s Hammond School, told The State move was made so he could sign his LOI alongside his teammates, one of whom is a Colorado State-bound Jackson Muschamp.

Fans are concerned that Burch wasn’t truly settled on the Gamecocks and a recent visit to newly-minted national champ LSU validates those fears. If Burch does indeed don the garnet and black, he will likely shoulder some early liability for his team’s fate on the defensive side of the football.

Four-star tackle Tonka Hemingway of Conway would join him on the defensive line, and Gamecock supporters hope the pair will produce up front.  They will replace the departed Wonnum  and Javon Kinlaw. Linebackers include the experienced Spencer Eason-Riddle and Sherrod Greene. The heralded Israel Mukuamu returns to his cornerback slot.

Whoever the Gamecocks have on the field, they will have to play with intensity. Getting pressure on opposing quarterbacks and gang tackling will be essential skills for the unit if they hope to help their squad close games.

The Carolina defense will need to put their days of missed tackles and missed playing time behind them to have a chance for success in 2020.

And so in closing…

The 2020 season will be a defining one for Muschamp and his Gamecocks. If they can correct their flaws, they have the potential to really make a push for the SEC East title as Georgia replaces Jake Fromm and Florida only escaped Columbia with a win last season due to a couple ill-timed Gamecock miscues and questionable officiating.

If the Gamecocks want to reach such heights, they must stay out of their own way. Muschamp wants to salvage a so-far disappointing head coaching career and a successful 2020 will validate the hype he once received as the nation’s hottest coaching prospect.