Everything Clayton White said previewing South Carolina's matchup with Vanderbilt

South Carolina defensive coordinator Clayton White spoke to the media on Tuesday to preview the Gamecocks’ Week 3 matchup with Vanderbilt. Kickoff on Saturday is at 7:45 p.m. and will be on SEC Network.

Here’s everything Beamer had to say.

Opening statement

“Having a great week of practice here. Great week of preparation, getting ready for the game on Saturday. Our goal right now is just to continue stack days, make sure our guys are preparing, finishing off the week, just getting them ready to play, however long we need to on Saturday.”

You guys were really able to contain Diego Pavia very well in the game in Nashville last year. Is it easy to think you can replicate that this Saturday? 

“Obviously, in the SEC, none of those are easy to be honest with you. So obviously, they’re doing a really good job on offense of being very balanced. And he’s a playmaker, so we’ve got to do a great job of understanding who he is and what we have and what we’ve got to get done in regards to our plan.”

After juggling through some of the early injuries to this point this season, how do you feel like the guys who were called upon, maybe more earlier than expected, responded in those situations?

“They did the best they could. At the time, we had a couple guys go down, kind of back-to-back and kind of all at once, not all at once, but obviously, you know, in a short period of time. But I feel like our guys were locked in and focused. And I think that’s always, you never know when you’re never going to get called. It’s a next man up mentality. But I was definitely pleased with how they did and obviously got the job done.”

Vanderbilt seems to like throwing the ball deep and downfield. When you see that, does that concern you at all with your secondary and how they’ve lost some of these 50-50 balls?

“Obviously, they’ve definitely done a pretty good job of just pushing the ball down the field. I do believe that we continue to work and obviously get better at some things that we understand, some strengths and weaknesses, what’s going on, but right now, definitely not concerned, but we definitely, I gotta continue to get better.”

What’s the emphasis on making sure that if Eli Stowers catches any passes, the defense is limiting him from picking up a lot of yards?

“Well, one, (Vanderbilt) does a great job of making sure he gets his touches. He’s a really good tight end. Probably one of the better tight ends coming back in the country. Definitely a weapon down the field, short routes and down the field in the seams and on the sideline. They did a really good job of moving him around. But obviously, our guys, we gotta tackle the man with the football first and foremost, just basic fundamentals. And we believe in population to the football. I think that also helps as well.”

What did work so well last year against Pavia?

“I do believe that our guys, you know, obviously, we always motivate internally, no matter who we play, no matter what game it is on the schedule. We’re always proud of them and ready to go. I think that was important. I do believe that they understood that Pavia was a guy who’s a playmaker, so you gotta do a great job of clashing on the back end. You gotta do a great job of at least making them run around. If you can’t sack him, then make him run around throughout the pocket and throw the ball away.”

What dictates how you rotate your linebackers?

“It’s just about reps, trying to make sure the number doesn’t get too high when you feel like you have three, maybe four guys that can have a starting role, but trying to just keep those numbers at a good spot. Don’t want to get that number too high before the end of the season.”

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What’s been your message to the guys this week to remain consistent with the big challenge up ahead?

“That’s something we always preach on and harp on about, just being consistent, stacking days back to back. Our program is different, I think, than most programs, regardless of how you’re starting at the top with Coach Beamer. But I do believe that our guys understand that every day is like a Super Bowl. It’s 4th and 1 every single day. So we definitely continue to push our guys. We have physical and competitive practice on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and just that itself is going to keep your iron sharp.”

How comfortable do you feel with the depth going into this game?

“We feel great. We feel like our staff did a really good job of identifying some things early in the South Carolina State game that we wanted to make sure we handled before it got out of control. But we feel really good about things on all fronts.”

Have you guys changed at all in how you practice trying to win those 50-50 balls or put an emphasis on it this week?

“Obviously, you’ve got to have certain drills and certain opportunities during practice to replicate those situations. But our guys are still confident. They still believe. I mean, they’re probably not that far away from knocking that ball down and picking it. So we just got to time it up better and just continue to be competitive and understand that it’s a big man sport. So you gotta do a great job down the field. That’s where you make your money.”

Have you seen Vicari Swain’s confidence rise on defense after his success on special teams?

“He has not changed, but that’s the beauty of some of our players. They have success, and you know, we’ve been there before kind of mindset. So some people have some success and don’t know how to act when they get there, but our guys, we know how to act, so we’ve been there before, and we act like it. We know how to carry ourselves. He does a really good job of that.”

I don’t know how much you’ve had to tell your guys about some of the stuff that Pavia said over the summer. Was that something that you knew the guys were familiar with? Or has it even come up?

“Yeah, it’s a podcast world right now, so I’m pretty sure they saw it. So, like we said earlier, you know, we get motivated internally here, so we don’t need other things to really get us going. We also try to motivate the guys. So we don’t really need anything else, to be honest with you, but our guys will be fired up, ready to roll.”

When going against somebody like Pavia, what does that bring to the firepower of your defense as a whole?

“Great question. I feel like our guys understand we’re going to enter SEC play. I mean, most quarterbacks are going to be dynamic as we go down this road here, and Pavia is obviously one of the better ones that you’re going to face when it comes to that mode. And he has a competitive spirit about him that kind of also rubs off on his football team. So you have to respect that. You’ve got to understand that when the fourth quarter comes, we’ve got to make sure we’re on our P’s and Q’s because you have a great feeling that a player like him will.”

I’d imagine eye discipline and assignment football are important in every game. But is it even more of an emphasis this week with Pavia and some of the things Vanderbilt likes to do from an option standpoint?

“Nice question. Yes, I would say when you are playing a team of that nature, you definitely have to kind of go back to some old school roots in regards to taking care of your business, do your job. It is kind of have some option aspects to it. We face that quite a bit with our offense, sometimes in the spring and the fall, throughout the week, but it’s definitely an eye test. You’ve definitely got to make sure that you’re sharp and you can’t get two nose, and you can’t get out of your gap. You can’t think that you can go do something, because that definitely makes you pay.”

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