New starters will be tested early
South Carolina’s most painstakingly obvious task coming into the 2014 season was replacing starting cornerbacks Victor Hampton and Jimmy Legree in a depleted defensive secondary.
Gamecocks moved senior Brison Williams from safety to cornerback to try to plug the dam, but it was clear the team needed more bodies in the position.
So with a draft class that had four cornerbacks, the writing was on the wall that one of the incoming freshman cornerbacks would be starting week one against Texas A&M this week.
Defensive coordinator Lorenzo Ward confirmed after practice Tuesday that freshman Al Harris Jr. who would garner the first start of the four 2014 signees.
“I think Harris is starting,” Ward said. “[Williams] will start at the other corner.”
For Williams, Thursday’s start will hardly be his first. The senior from Warner Robins, Georgia played in all but one game last season (he missed the Coastal Carolina game after injuring his forearm), logging 45 tackles, one interception and three pass breakups.
Harris Jr. will come into Thursday’s game as a starter, but just a year ago, he was preparing for his final high school football season. He will have little time to adjust to the pace of the game at the collegiate level.
“It’s very high,” Harris Jr. said about the pace of college football. “There’s a lot more intensity. Everything is quick and you got to get right to it.”
Harris Jr. is the son of former all-pro NFL cornerback Al Harris, whose career spanned 14 seasons.
Harris Jr.’s father only received a three-star ranking coming out of St. Thomas Aquinas in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, but Harris Jr. arrived early, giving him an advantage over the other freshmen corners.
Secondary coordinator Grady Brown said that, while Harris Jr. will get the start, redshirt sophomore Rico McWilliams will likely see time opposite Williams, too.
Brown also said that, if it comes down to it, he would be comfortable letting freshmen corners Chris Lammons and Wesley Green play.
“If we had to play those guys, we could play them,” Brown said. “But those three — Harris Jr., McWilliams, Williams — those guys are maybe slightly at a different place right now. But if we had to play Wesley Green, if his number was called, he would be ready to go in a game. And so would Chris Lammons.”
With Williams sliding over to cornerback, that leaves a pair of redshirt sophomores in Chaz Elder and Chris Moody starting at the safety positions.
Elder competed in 11 games for the Gamecocks last season, earning his first start against Arkansas. He finished the season starting the last five games, which led to an interception against Mississippi State.
Harris Jr.’s inexperience is rivaled only by Moody’s, who was mainly used on special teams last season as a redshirt freshman.
After last season, Moody is looking to use his skills on the field this year.
“I hope it’s a lot I can build on,” Moody said of his playing time from last season. “I know what to do, what not to do. So, I’m trying to take it into the Texas A&M game and play as well as I can.”
The defensive backfield of Williams, Harris Jr., Elder and Moody will be tested early and often by a squad of Aggies that has a tendency to air the ball out.
Under the command of Johnny Manziel last season, Texas A&M amassed 4,593 receiving yards in 13 games.