STARKVILLE — The Mississippi State football team is still trying to find the right five players to play in front its quarterback.
Finding that mix will be primary concern at 11:21 a.m. Saturday (WCBI) because MSU will have to contend with No. 15 University of South Carolina and the pass rush of defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson. Johnson was defensive coordinator at MSU for coach Sylvester Croom from 2004-07.
Last season, South Carolina was third in the Southeastern Conference and 12th nationally in rushing defense, giving up 112.4 yards per game. It held opponents under 100 yards nine times, and had a league-high 41 sacks. Defensive end Devin Taylor and cornerback Stephon Gilmore earned first-team All-SEC honors.
This season, South Carolina’s ends Taylor, Melvin Ingram, and Jadeveon
Clowney lead the SEC in sacks with 13 in six games. The Gamecocks lead the SEC and are third in the country in pass defense (128.5 ypg.).
“Because they have both you can keep sliding one way and they’ll kill you on the other you ignore,” MSU offensive line coach John Hevesy. “We have to be technically sound fundamentally. Nobody beats people, but you beat yourself by technique and getting caught off guard.”
MSU (3-3, 0-3 SEC) hopes left tackle James Carmon will be able to contribute to stabilize the chemistry on the offensive line. MSU coach Dan Mullen said Carmon (knee) is medically cleared to play, but hat South Carolina will identify any lack of mobility and attack that side.
“We’d love to always have James at left tackle, but it’s not a perfect world,” MSU senior right tackle Addison Lawrence said.
Said Mullen, “We go out there and we feel the guys who are going to perform the best on Saturday. My evaluation of that is Tuesday,
Wednesday, and Thursday at practice. We’ll see what this week brings.”
Johnson normally plays a base 4-3 defensive front and allows his
defensive ends to concentrate on rushing the quarterback . South Carolina (5-1, 3-1) has Clowney, the nation’s top recruit, coming off the bench as the rotating pass rusher when Taylor and Ingram need a rest. Ingram leads the SEC and is tied for 11th nationally with 0.92 sacks per game (5.5 total), while freshman Clowney is tied for second in the SEC with four sacks.
“(Clowney) hasn’t quite showed up like he did early,” South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier said. “He’s doing OK. He’s in there stopping the run and stalemates the tackles. He’s playing well, but he hasn’t quite shown up like he did the other games.”
Ingram was named the SEC Special Teams Player of the Week and defensive player of the week by Rivals.com after scoring twice in a victory against the University of Georgia. He ran a fake punt 68 yards for a touchdown and scooped and scored on a fumble recovery that sealed the win. Ingram was only the third Division I player since 2006 to score an offensive and defensive touchdown in a game.
“They have so much talent at defensive end,” Mullen said. “You look at the Clowney kid, he’s not even their starter. They can create mismatches along the line by putting two ends on the field so somebody’s got a mismatch.”
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