Gamecocks defense raving about faster, ‘more athletic’ linebackers and edge rushers
Alex “Boogie” Huntley is not necessarily a man who needs protection. The South Carolina defensive tackle stands 6-foot-4 and tops that scale at over 300 pounds. He is a tank. But even tanks will take a little backup.
And now, as Huntley and the other Gamecock tanks push forward at the front of the line, they know there’s some artillery behind them.
“Whatever you’re doing,” Huntley said, “if you’re holding up a double (team), you know you have have missiles behind you flying in.”
Those missiles are South Carolina linebackers and edge rushers (EDGEs) — many of whom are new additions and just now showing what they’re capable of in Columbia.
Over the offseason, South Carolina lost over 20 guys to the transfer portal and outside of wide receiver Antwane “Juice” Wells, one could argue the biggest losses were both linebackers: Grayson “Pup” Howard and starter Stone Blanton.
South Carolina found replacements in Pitt transfer Bangally Kamara and Charlotte transfer Demetrius Knight, who combined for over 150 tackles and a dozen tackles for losses last season at their schools.
USC also brought in a pair of four-star freshmen to bolster the LB room, 6-3, 225-pound Fred Johnson and 6-2, 220-pound Wendell Gregory.
Through one week of spring practice, the Gamecocks are quickly realizing they might have actually upgraded at the linebacker spot. If nothing else, they are faster, longer, twitchier.
Or rather, as head coach Shane Beamer admitted, “We are absolutely more athletic at linebacker.”
More missile-like.
“Them boys are looking good,” said redshirt senior Debo Williams, who is expected to start at linebacker. “They’re fast, man. Fast, shifty, everything. They’re processing and learning the plays well, too.”
Perhaps helping: The EDGEs South Carolina brought in are on the All-bus team. If South Carolina wanted to intimidate opponents, they’d send Pitt transfer Kyle Kennard (6-5, 240) off the bus first. Then probably Florida State transfer Gilber Edmond (6-4, 250). And five-star freshman Dylan Stewart (6-5, 245).
“Dylan Stewart, he’s an athletic freak,” Kennard said. “I haven’t seen anything like it from a freshman.”
For Huntley and the defensive linemen, their lives just got a whole lot better.
“It helps with confidence. It helps with trust, belief,” Huntley said. “When you have that, you can play a little more free. You can have so much more trust in your teammates.
“You can expand the play calls;. So when you get guys like we did and players who have been here and proven things like they have, it just helps everyone flow and play better.”
What that means for South Carolina remains to be seen. Gamecocks’ defensive coordinator Clayton White — who used both a 4-2-5 and 3-3-3 scheme last season — noted USC’s personnel fits to a “flex-nickel defense.”
In other words, the Gamecocks will always have five defensive backs and can then adapt the front seven to a 4-2-5 or a 3-3-5 based on who’s is on the field.
“The words in one defense means the same in the other because of the versatility of our players and how deep we are in this defense,” White said. “I think our guys light up when we talk like that. They light up when we know we have options.”
Better yet, they light up because they know they’ve got missiles all around them.
This story was originally published March 28, 2024 at 7:30 AM with the headline "Gamecocks defense raving about faster, ‘more athletic’ linebackers and edge rushers."
