Gamecocks rack up five sacks against Commodores
After South Carolina’s week two loss at Georgia, junior defensive end Jadeveon Clowney’s exasperation with opponents’ running plays to his opposite side seemed to evidently boil over in the post-game press conference.
“It’s very frustrating,” Clowney said. “I told coach ‘Man, you’ve got to put me somewhere else. In the middle if you want to, I don’t know, somewhere that I can make some play, help my team.’”
With just one sack in the two games before the No. 12 Gamecocks took on Vanderbilt Saturday, Clowney was drawing criticism from the national media for his lack of impact in the early goings of the season.
The Gamecocks coaching staff attempted to remedy the issue in South Carolina’s 35-25 victory over the Commodores by giving Clowney more input as to what position he played on the defensive line.
“I just tell them, like, ‘Coach, I need to move,’” Clowney said. “They slide and they double team and they chip me, so I say ‘I’m moving to this spot.’”
Defensive coordinator Lorenzo Ward said the coaching staff was all for letting Clowney play coach Saturday night.
“He had a lot of freedom,” Ward said. “We told him – especially in the second half – to move around.”
Clowney spent most of the night in the traditional role, lining up in front of the opposing team’s left tackle, but the star defensive end seemed to find more success in the second half when he experimented with the opposite side of the line.
While the junior roamed the defensive line free most of the night, in some instances Ward and his defensive staff took it upon themselves to shuffle Clowney around.
“We put him on the nose guard a little bit when we went to our ‘Bear’ package,” Ward said. “So we played him both sides.”
Clowney’s lone sack on the night came in the third quarter when he burst past the Vanderbilt right tackle and pulverized Vandy quarterback Austyn Carta-Samuels, forcing a fumble in the process.
Though he has just two sacks so far in 2013, they have created a combined 16 lost yards for the opponent and forced one turnover.
Clowney’s frustration has served to benefit his teammates on the defensive line, as senior defensive end Chaz Sutton has registered 1.5 sacks and four tackles for loss and senior defensive tackle Kelcy Quarles has collected two sacks and two tackles for loss.
“I talk to [Sutton and Quarles] every game, every practice,” Clowney said. “I just tell them, ‘Man, it’s time for y’all to shine. Y’all have got to do your part. Step up and be a leader and be a playmaker.’”
Three games into the 2013 campaign, Clowney is still searching for the form that saw him rack up 13 sacks during the 2012 season.