Joe DeCamillis Breaks Down South Carolina’s Special Teams Ahead of Missouri Clash
COLUMBIA — South Carolina special teams coordinator Joe DeCamillis met with the media Wednesday to preview the Gamecocks’ upcoming matchup at Missouri. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. on ESPN.
Here’s a look at what DeCamillis had to say:
On whether Mason Love and William Joyce have designated field-goal ranges
DeCamillis explained that the kicking duties aren’t as clear-cut as one handling long attempts and the other short ones.
“It’s not really that simple. It’s more of a game-to-game situation. We felt like it was flying better in his way, that way, that night,” he said. “So we’ll see as we go forward and keep working that process through. But unfortunately, made the miss right there. Would have liked to hit that before the half. Maybe that would have given us a little momentum. So that was disappointing, but that’s how it goes, and hopefully we keep going from there.”
On the overall special teams performance through three games
DeCamillis noted there’s progress but room to improve.
“Pleased, but not satisfied,” he said. “I think we were close the other night, and we took the one out nine deep, and (Nyck Harbor) was darn close to going to the house on that one. We just didn’t finish the technique on the backside, like what we would have liked to have. And then, to be honest with you, on Vicari (Swain)’s return, it was close. He made a cut inside that he’d probably like to have back. I know I’d like to have it back because I think he stays outside, at least we got a chance, so we’ll see.”
He added that while coverage units have been solid and Mason Love has handled punting duties well, the challenges will only increase in SEC play.
“As we know in the SEC, it’s a different situation every single week, and you get a different club that you’re playing against. It’s another challenge this week, going into Missouri.”
On Nyck Harbor’s decision to take a deep kickoff out of the end zone
DeCamillis clarified that Harbor wasn’t instructed to take it out no matter what but made an in-game decision.
“No, he just said, you know, I’ll do it on my own. No, yeah, we talked about it on the sideline. We’re going to try to give him parameters to hit every single time. And we felt like, at that point in the game, trying to make something happen. But you never know how it goes from here. Who knows? He might start taking them all out nine deep. Don’t know.”
South Carolina’s special teams will look to turn those near-misses into game-changing plays when they take the field Saturday night in Columbia, Missouri
