South Carolina Football: Five Improvements That Will Start Against Vandy

The South Carolina Gamecocks come into this game undefeated and on the brink of cracking the top ten. Most fans prefer to just win, but some want their Gamecocks to play near perfect football when it matters most.

Despite being tested a few times this season they continue to find ways to keep up their winning ways. Marcus Lattimore may enter the month of October as the Heisman front runner, but only if his team refuses to lose. 

There are a few adjustments this team must improve upon if they expect to become one of the best teams in the country.

More Consistency in Passing Game

Stephen Garcia may have not started the opener, but he sure needs to find his groove sometime before October. He has the perfect slate of games coming up to see more success.

Vanderbilt's pass defense may be ranked 22nd, allowing only 164 yards per game, but they have not faced any great teams yet. Casey Heyward is one of the best corners in America and he will likely shadow Alshon Jeffery throughout the game.

Garcia has to look for Jeffery early and often but at the same time understand he has one of the better receiving corps in the SEC. Ace Sanders, Jason Barnes, Bruce Ellington and tight end Justice Cunningham can do more than just keep the chains moving. Along with Jeffery, they have the talent to hit the home run ball. 

Avoiding Jeffery would not be smart and no longer locking onto receivers would also be an improvement. Setting up Sanders and Ellington on more screens in the middle of the field will only help open up even more holes in the running game.

This is not Garcia's first rodeo in the SEC and he will continue to improve with a talented cast around him. 

Run Defense

Navy is third in the nation and averaging 358 yards per game, but the Gamecocks did a poor job preparing for the Midshipmen.

Sure, they are a very good under the radar team, but they do no have the strength nor the speed that South Carolina has.

Allowing 274 yards rushing against Navy is a tough pill to swallow since SC's defense was expected to be one of the strengths this season. Despite Navy being a tough game plan to prepare for in just one week, I would have liked to see better tackling and better angles being taken. 

For the season, South Carolina's run defense is an abysmal 89th, allowing 182 yards per game. And they better improve before it is too late. I am not worried by any means...yet.

Pass Defense

This might be the least of my concerns, since injuries have plagued this unit since the opener against East Carolina.

However, this bend but don't break defense will soon be tested. This weekend against Vandy will be no easy talk with tight end Brandon Barden and youngster Chris Boyd challenging the Gamecocks secondary. Plus, next weekend against Auburn will be no walk in the park either.

Stephon Gilmore, CC Whitlock, DeVonte Holloman, Antonio Allen, Marty Markett and DJ Swearinger provide a loaded secondary, but they will need to start playing like the highly touted squad that most expected so much more out of. 

Special Teams

The Gamecocks are currently 86th in the nation in yards per punt return coverage. John Butler is known as a special team guru and will need to get better coverage, since the SEC has a ton of athletes that can make you look bad.

The punt return team is doing a fine job, ranking 14th in the land and averaging 15.4 yards per return. Ace Sanders is the normal returner and he has the speed to take one back to the house. Last week against Navy not one punt was returned (most were downed due to poor punts/kick out of bounds).

Lastly, kick return coverage has also been fairly poor by the Gamecocks. Not one person will talk about special teams since they seem unimportant, but the third phase of the game is critical in tight ball games. 

Teams with better special teams win the close ball games more times than not. Bruce Ellington, Stephon Gilmore and Ace Sanders are three tremendous athletes that I will be looking for to break out this weekend. 

Turnover Margin

The Gamecocks are one of the most explosive teams in America, but they need to take care of the ball a bit better. 

They are just 32nd in turnover margin, which is not awful but improvements could be made. The defense has nine takeaways and the offense has turned it over just seven times. A plus two margin is not too shabby, but that is not good enough in comparison to the top rated SEC teams.

Four fumbles and three interceptions does not fall just in the hands of Lattimore and Garcia, but the two leaders of the team will need to start to play clean football without any turnovers.

They certainly are capable of getting the job done and they have the talented teammates to take this Gamecocks team to glory.