An aggressive defense led by the versatile senior linebacker Eric Norwood is what Ole Miss offensive coordinator Kent Austin expects to see from the South Carolina Gamecocks Thursday evening.
No. 4 Ole Miss opens its Southeastern Conference schedule against USC at Williams-Brice Stadium and Austin said he expects a lot of twists and turns from coordinator Ellis Johnson, including Norwood lining up all over the field and coming from all angles on blitzes.
?They?re aggressive, very well coached and sound fundamentally. They?re hitters and they?re going to make you work hard. They?re going to make you earn it. We?re going to have to be very well prepared and we?re going to have to play a very clean football game,? Austin said. ?I know we better know where (Norwood) is and we understand that. But he?s not the only one we need to be aware of on that defense.?
Ole Miss had some early success against South Carolina last year but the Gamecocks came up with some big turnovers to earn a 31-24 in Oxford last year. Turnovers, in a hostile environment, is something Austin said can?t happen.
?We?re going to have to be very well prepared and we?re going to have to play a very clean football game,? Austin said. ?They want to get you into a brawl. We?re telling our guys what the nature of this game presents for us right now and we have to be assignment sound as well.?
Garcia improving
South Carolina?s defense isn?t the only thing to look out for in Thursday?s game. Quarterback Stephen Garcia has improved tremendously for the Gamecocks under center in his sophomore season. He ranks second in the SEC in total offense (253 yards per game) and he?s thrown for 683 yards and three touchdowns so far this year.
?From the bowl game to now he?s much improved. He?s ready,? Ole Miss defensive coordinator Tyrone Nix said. ?He?s getting them in the right plays, making the right reads. He?s pulling it down when everything is covered. It looks like he?s a complete quarterback.?
Nix said that what makes South Carolina?s offense so good under coach Steve Spurrier is the ability to mix in different formations and be balanced.
?They?re explosive, they?re a physical group and they run the ball well. We watched the Florida Atlantic game and they have big playmakers. They have big playmakers and they can score on anyone,? Nix said. ?They keep it simple but multiple enough to where you have to adjust to certain things. A lot of the plays they run are similar, they just run them out of different sets. If you look at the Florida Atlantic game, they were very balanced with the run and pass.?
The Gamecocks are averaging 39.5 points per game after only scoring seven points in their opener and just under 400 yards per game.
Hopeful for Hardy
A player that could help stop that USC offense is defensive end Greg Hardy. The senior from Millington, Tenn., missed the Southeastern Louisiana game to rest his swollen ankle. It appears the extra rest has helped some, but Hardy said that he?s still not 100 percent.
?It?s just a work in progress and hopefully I?ll be ready by Thursday. It?s getting better. It?s hurting a little bit less, I?m getting more flexibility,? said Hardy, who added he would play if he was told to by Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt. ?I feel good with both wraps on my feet. I could feel better, but I don?t feel like Greg Hardy yet.?
Looking to breakout
Senior wide receiver Dexter McCluster said that he?s ready for the offense to finally break out of its mini funk and be more consistent moving the ball up and down the field. Despite scoring 45 of the team?s 52 points in the win over Southeastern Louisiana and 38 of the team?s 45 points against Memphis, the Rebel offense has yet to really start to hum like McCluster knows it can.
?We?ve been a little up and down. We?ll have a good series here and there and we want to go out and score every snap, every time we have the ball. We have to have that mentality every time we?re out there,? McCluster said. ?We?re proud of the people that stepped up last week, Jesse (Grandy), (Pat) Patterson, all those guys had big games last week. But I?m ready for the offense to go out there and have a complete game. All four quarters, execute, catching the ball, everybody blocking their man and doing it on national TV.?
No. 4 Ole Miss opens its Southeastern Conference schedule against USC at Williams-Brice Stadium and Austin said he expects a lot of twists and turns from coordinator Ellis Johnson, including Norwood lining up all over the field and coming from all angles on blitzes.
?They?re aggressive, very well coached and sound fundamentally. They?re hitters and they?re going to make you work hard. They?re going to make you earn it. We?re going to have to be very well prepared and we?re going to have to play a very clean football game,? Austin said. ?I know we better know where (Norwood) is and we understand that. But he?s not the only one we need to be aware of on that defense.?
Ole Miss had some early success against South Carolina last year but the Gamecocks came up with some big turnovers to earn a 31-24 in Oxford last year. Turnovers, in a hostile environment, is something Austin said can?t happen.
?We?re going to have to be very well prepared and we?re going to have to play a very clean football game,? Austin said. ?They want to get you into a brawl. We?re telling our guys what the nature of this game presents for us right now and we have to be assignment sound as well.?
Garcia improving
South Carolina?s defense isn?t the only thing to look out for in Thursday?s game. Quarterback Stephen Garcia has improved tremendously for the Gamecocks under center in his sophomore season. He ranks second in the SEC in total offense (253 yards per game) and he?s thrown for 683 yards and three touchdowns so far this year.
?From the bowl game to now he?s much improved. He?s ready,? Ole Miss defensive coordinator Tyrone Nix said. ?He?s getting them in the right plays, making the right reads. He?s pulling it down when everything is covered. It looks like he?s a complete quarterback.?
Nix said that what makes South Carolina?s offense so good under coach Steve Spurrier is the ability to mix in different formations and be balanced.
?They?re explosive, they?re a physical group and they run the ball well. We watched the Florida Atlantic game and they have big playmakers. They have big playmakers and they can score on anyone,? Nix said. ?They keep it simple but multiple enough to where you have to adjust to certain things. A lot of the plays they run are similar, they just run them out of different sets. If you look at the Florida Atlantic game, they were very balanced with the run and pass.?
The Gamecocks are averaging 39.5 points per game after only scoring seven points in their opener and just under 400 yards per game.
Hopeful for Hardy
A player that could help stop that USC offense is defensive end Greg Hardy. The senior from Millington, Tenn., missed the Southeastern Louisiana game to rest his swollen ankle. It appears the extra rest has helped some, but Hardy said that he?s still not 100 percent.
?It?s just a work in progress and hopefully I?ll be ready by Thursday. It?s getting better. It?s hurting a little bit less, I?m getting more flexibility,? said Hardy, who added he would play if he was told to by Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt. ?I feel good with both wraps on my feet. I could feel better, but I don?t feel like Greg Hardy yet.?
Looking to breakout
Senior wide receiver Dexter McCluster said that he?s ready for the offense to finally break out of its mini funk and be more consistent moving the ball up and down the field. Despite scoring 45 of the team?s 52 points in the win over Southeastern Louisiana and 38 of the team?s 45 points against Memphis, the Rebel offense has yet to really start to hum like McCluster knows it can.
?We?ve been a little up and down. We?ll have a good series here and there and we want to go out and score every snap, every time we have the ball. We have to have that mentality every time we?re out there,? McCluster said. ?We?re proud of the people that stepped up last week, Jesse (Grandy), (Pat) Patterson, all those guys had big games last week. But I?m ready for the offense to go out there and have a complete game. All four quarters, execute, catching the ball, everybody blocking their man and doing it on national TV.?
