Defense continues to flourish despite injuries, youth

COLUMBIA -- The play seemed innocuous enough, especially in September's first days.

South Carolina middle linebacker Rodney Paulk turned one way, his left leg went the other and he had to be helped off the field in Raleigh.

"I thought he'd be out a couple of plays and come back in," said Shaq Wilson, Paulk's backup.

But, as it turned out, Paulk was done for the year with a torn knee ligament.

And that set off a long season of juggling injuries, suspensions and youth for Gamecocks defensive head coach Ellis Johnson and his staff.

Even by late September, Johnson hinted that this might be "one of those seasons."

He was right.

Through 11 games -- and mercifully at the team's bye week -- South Carolina's plug-and-play defense is hanging in there.

Giving up 308 yards a game, the Gamecocks are third in the SEC (behind only No. 1 Florida and No. 2 Alabama) and 20th in the country in total defense.

They're even better in passing defense (eighth in FBS, 163 ypg), despite a corner rotation that consists of two true freshmen and two sophomores. (Tip your cap to first-year corners coach Lorenzo Ward for a lot of that.)

"It's obvious these kids have something to them," Johnson said after the Florida game, which included a fourth-and-short stop of Tim Tebow.

Wilson's a pretty prime example of that "having something to them."

Johnson and head coach Steve Spurrier wondered aloud whether Wilson -- listed at 5-11 and 210 pounds -- could physically perform in the middle of the field against SEC offenses. Spurrier said he might get "pushed around by some of them big linemen."

That was after the Georgia game, the second game of the season.

Now in November, Wilson leads the Gamecocks with 77 total tackles.

Josh Dickerson replaced Wilson in the starting lineup for the Oct. 10 Kentucky game. But Wilson responded with 11 tackles and an interception the next week at No. 2 Alabama and 12 tackles the following week against Vanderbilt.

"He personifies heart. If you want to see heart, you want to look at Shaq Wilson," said senior receiver Moe Brown, a team captain. "He's fearless on the field. You put a 320-pound lineman on the field, he's going to take him on just like anybody else. That's what this game is about."

It's not just Wilson.

Last week, with No. 1 strong safety Darian Stewart banged up and his backup, freshman DeVonte Holloman, also out, Alonzo Winfield had to play much of the second quarter against the country's top-ranked team at a position he hadn't practiced at in months.

Some version of that has been the norm rather than the exception for this team, which has started 11 different defensive lineups in the 11 games this season.

Injuries are expected, to some degree. But the suspensions have been maddening for the Gamecocks.

Tackle Ladi Ajiboye started the year on the shelf for three games. Sophomore corner C.C. Whitlock missed one early. Another sophomore corner, Akeem Auguste, was hit with a three-gamer for a crucial midseason stretch.

Junior safety Chris Culliver sat for the Arkansas game.

The Gamecocks have survived, for the most part, but especially the suspensions have been a nightmare for continuity.

Especially when three or four freshmen, maybe even more, are on the defensive field at the same time.

"We haven't made the kind of consistent progress that a good football team makes," Johnson said. "And it's because we can't keep a consistent lineup. I'm not being critical of our players; it's been that type of season.

"We don't have the same 14 or 15 guys week after week after week, so they jell together, play with each other."

Johnson said the relationship between certain positions is comparable to baseball's battery.

"When you go into a game, there's a safety looking at another safety and they're talking to somebody they hadn't talked to the week before," he said. "Those things make a lot of difference.

"We have not had, as we've moved through this year, a gradual improvement as we've moved through the season."

The good news? It is an open date for South Carolina.

The "wounded warriors," as Johnson called the Gamecocks, can heal a bit before No. 18 Clemson next week.

That includes defensive end Cliff Matthews, who was just barely healthy enough to play last week against the Gators after dislocating his shoulder at Tennessee. He'll be back to full speed by the time the Tigers get here.

In fact, assuming nothing goes wrong in the next week, South Carolina will have its first duplicate lineup -- repeating the winning Vandy defense (Oct. 24) -- for the first time all season.

Given how this fall's gone, beginning with Paulk, Johnson might want to find some wood to knock on.

Reach Travis Haney at thaney@postandcourier.com and check out the South Carolina blog at www.postandcourier.com/blogs/gamecocks.