South Carolina defense gaining confidence after keeping Hokie offense out of end zone

South Carolina opened its 2025 season without allowing a single touchdown against the Virginia Tech Hokies.

The game marked the second time in Shane Beamer’s tenure at South Carolina that the Gamecocks held an opponent without a touchdown in an opener. South Carolina shut out Eastern Illinois 46-0 in Beamer’s debut game with the Gamecocks.

Shutting down a Power Four conference opponent like Virginia Tech offensively instilled pride in defensive coordinator Clayton White.

“Obviously, our goal is about points,” White said. “Obviously, the team with more points wins, and so as a defense to keep them out of the end zone as many times as we possibly can, I do feel like we did that. I think that gave us a great chance to win.”

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The performance shows that South Carolina’s defense, despite losing talent to the NFL, is “here to play ball,” defensive back Peyton Williams said.

“We got a great coach in Coach White making those calls, just putting us in good positions to win those one-on-ones,” Williams said.

White preaches getting the ball back to the Gamecock offense to his guys. Defensive tackle Gabriel Brownlow-Dindy touched on what that means during fall camp.

“The ball is ours, so we’re trying to get it back at all points,” Brownlow-Dindy said. “That comes with seeing the running back, the arm, striking at it, trying to get the ball constantly, trying to do jump balls. The ball is ours, so we’ve got to have that mindset, we’re trying to get it back.”

South Carolina’s defense was efficient in getting the ball back to its offense. In their 11 drives on the field, the Gamecocks allowed no drives longer than five minutes alongside three 3-and-outs. The Gamecocks also allowed only one drive to go 70 or more yards.

The Gamecock defense bent in many ways, allowing the Hokies’ offense to drive inside the red zone twice. However, key plays forced Virginia Tech to kick field goals on half of its trips.

On the Hokies’ first trip to the red zone, when it appeared the Hokies were driving to tie the game at seven, linebacker Fred “JayR” Johnson intercepted the ball in the end zone. The interception was just one play in a strong day that earned Johnson SEC Defensive Player of the Week honors.

“Obviously, he had some flash plays,” White said. It’s always good for someone that you’re coaching who’s on this football team to have a flash moment. He had a couple of those, and he flew around.”

South Carolina’s defense is process-driven, White said. The team looks to improve with every down played.

“Just handle our details and do our part and not try to do too much when we’re out there,” White said. “But I think that was the main thing, it ended up just so happening that they didn’t score.”

Holding the Hokies without a touchdown gives the group confidence moving forward, linebacker Justin Okoronkwo said.

“Of course, it’s a great way to start the season. We had a great team effort, played good together,” Okoronkwo said. “From now on, we’re just building on that and trying to play even better next game.”

Williams said he and his teammates were not surprised by the performance. However, putting a game like Sunday on tape for the world to see was great. Now the Gamecocks have a chance to continue their defensive success with SC State coming to town Saturday night.

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