Final Position Grades: Defense @ No. 1 Georgia
If someone had told the Gamecock defensive players and Clayton White's coaching staff that they would hold Georgia's offense to three points in the first half, you would imagine that this meant that pressure was being brought often against Bulldog quarterback Carson Beck and that timely stops were being made. All of this is true, but in the second half, everything this side of the ball was doing right turned in the opposite direction, and the volume of snaps these guys played slowly caught up to them. How did each position unit perform between the hedges?
Defensive line: C+
This is a grade that may be controversial to some. Many people, myself included, were highly impressed with TJ Sanders, who finished with nine total tackles, two for loss, one sack, and a pass breakup. Outside of that, no other player jumped out, which, against a team like Georgia, can't be the case if you want to pull off an upset.
Linebackers: B
Overall, Debo Williams and Stone Blanton did a great job last night. They combined for two sacks and did a pretty solid job of attacking running lanes. Debo, in particular, seemed to be everywhere yesterday for the Gamecocks, and I think both he and Blanton were just gassed toward the end of the game, getting little to no rest due to being on the field so often.
Secondary: B-
The secondary last night was another group that held their ground against some talented weapons that the Bulldogs have, which was particularly impressive considering that two of their veterans, Nick Emmanwori and David Spaulding, couldn't go at full speed. Two true freshmen, Jalon Kilgore and Judge Collier, also saw significant action. Outside of two or three plays, they weren't beat deep, but this group had difficulty getting off their blocks on screens. Other than that, they did as good of a job as you can ask.
Overall, the defense showed much improvement In a game that most think, but the gap in terms of competitive depth eventually got the better of them. Despite the final score, there are many bright spots to take from this game.
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