Marcus Satterfield: 'I think we've given it everything we got'
Shane Beamer likes to talk about each game essentially being a chapter in the book that ultimately becomes South Carolina’s season.
Well, right now the book is essentially two-thirds of the way over and the offense is still struggling to get to its climax.
The Gamecocks currently rank in the bottom half of the league in most offensive categories. It’s led to a bevy of outside pressure on Shane Beamer and offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield.
On Wednesday, during his regular media availability, he was asked to evaluate the job he and the staff have done maximizing the Gamecocks’ offensive talent.
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“I think we’ve given it everything we got. I think we continue to work hard and have the trust of our players. We’ve shown games where we’ve been productive and ran the ball and thrown it and caught the ball and scored touchdowns. There are games we haven’t. We’re not a young football team but we’re early on in the stages,” Satterfield said.
“It’s Spencer’s first year and trying to build and mold what we ultimately want to look like as an offense. Certain pieces have been available, certain pieces haven’t been avalabile. I think moving forward, based on this week and how Spencer’s attacked it and how everyone’s attacked it we’ll continue to get better.”
South Carolina spent this offseason trying to bring in offensive skill talent. The Gamecocks landed Spencer Rattler and Austin Stogner from Oklahoma. They paired that with Corey Rucker, Antwane Wells Jr., Christian Beal-Smith and others out of the transfer portal.
Beal-Smith was banged up for large portions of the season. Rucker will miss virtually the entire season with a foot injury. But, even with those two missing extended time, South Carolina’s offense has struggled to consistently get off the ground.
The Gamecocks rank 11th in the SEC in yards per play (5.6). They’re also 12th in yards per rush (3.9) and 10th in yards per pass attempt (7.5).
South Carolina’s also scored 31 touchdowns, eighth-most in the SEC. The offense has turned the ball over a league-worst 19 times while allowing 19 sacks. Only Auburn, LSU and Kentucky have allowed more.
The Gamecocks rank ninth in the SEC in third-down conversions (39.8 percent) while being eighth in red zone touchdown rate (67.7 percent).
South Carolina is coming off arguably its worst offensive game of the year. It scored 10 points and averaged season lows in yards per play (3.8), yards per rush (1.4) and also yards per pass (5.7).
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“It was very disappointing just the production, the execution, everything,” Satterfield said. “I thought we had a really good week of practice and thought our guys were ready to go. We just never could get going. We could never get a first down to stay on the field.”
So, with a good week of practice, where did the disconnect come in translating that from the practice field to the game?
“That’s a great question. I wish I knew that. We continue each week and each month as a coach to find how guys can stay consistent,” Satterfield said. “You always worry about that after you have a couple of weeks of success to make sure guys keep that edge about them and strain about them. I thought our guys did but it just didn’t show up on Saturday.”
Satterfield was also asked if there was anything he wanted to change after watching the South Carolina film on Saturday.
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“Obviously, yeah. If I had a pause and rewind button on every play I’d like to do certain things differently on most of them. If you watch the first half, it’s a block here or a decision here or a call here. It’s one of those days where things weren’t trending in our direction, at least offensively,” he said.
“The one thing I would, going back and looking at the game, with 11 minutes or 12 minutes we were already in rally mode having to play fast and try to get chunks and save timeouts and try to score. Probably, if I had a do-over, would go back and play that as a true possession. If it takes eight minutes, it takes eight minutes. Go get a touchdown and run your offense. I probably got to rally a little too early.”
South Carolina sits one win away from bowl eligibility. The Gamecocks will be favored this weekend against Vanderbilt while likely underdogs in its final three games.
If the Gamecocks want to finish the regular season above .500, the offense will have to continue to progress and be much better than it was Saturday against Missouri.
