Clayton White Talks Defense's Contingency Plans Due To Injuries

With multiple players questionable to play this weekend against Georgia, defensive coordinator Clayton White discussed his thought process regarding a couple of different spots on his side of the ball.

The South Carolina Gamecocks are a battered bunch heading into their anticipated matchup versus the defending national champions Georgia Bulldogs.

It was already announced on Monday that Jordan Strachan and Mohamed Kaba would be out for the rest of the season. At Shane Beamer's Tuesday press conference, however, the head coach labeled five other Gamecock players as questionable, including four defensive players in David Spaulding, Cam Smith, RJ Roderick, and Alex Huntley

When asked about what the strategy would be if David Spaulding and Cam Smith, both who are considered to be the Gamecocks' two main nickel corners, were unable to go, Clayton White harped on being proactive by cross-training players at different positions in case a situation like this were to occur.

“Right now, we’re just trying to work through some guys, and we had Marcel [Dial] play nickel last week. So he’s still available which is great, that’s why throughout fall camp and throughout the summer we train about four guys to play certain positions and I think this is when you need it the most.”

Along similar lines, coach White was asked about an interesting hypothetical regarding the safety position, with how well true freshman Nick Emmawori has done so far this season, if RJ Roderick is healthy for Georgia, do you still start Nick somewhere on the field? 

While Clayton White remained noncommittal with his answer, he acknowledged that you always want your best players out on the field as a coach.

“Well for me, on defense we’re always trying to find a way to get the best eleven on the field at all times regardless. I mean, there’s packages and other ways to get guys on the field, but just talking about Nick himself I think he’s doing a good job and working hard, and I know RJ’s biting at the bit to get back. So, excited to get him back.”

With all of the headlines this week surrounding the defense and some integral players' health or lack thereof, it'll be intriguing to see what lineup Clayton White trots this Saturday against this electric Georgia offense.

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