Talkin' Ball: John Strickland and Michael Flint | South Carolina Gamecocks

W it is finally arrived Carolina football 20124 Old Dominion will walk in tomorrow and hopefully South Carolina will send them home with a loss it is the first meeting ever between the two opponents 7755913493 on the sidelines there Todd Ellis Tommy Suggs and Chad Tucker of course will have it on the Gamecock Sports Network serus Satellite XM channel 106 and channel 190 it's year four for Shane Beamer looking to get back to a bowl and this is going to be the first step in doing so and we've got a lot of news notes and Nuggets to pass along uh this hour John but sure are glad to have you I know Mike will be in in just a second here and um finally we we don't have to talk about the what ifs anymore we we get to actually start talking about matchups and then next week we'll know a little bit more about what we're talking about right bud that's right that's right and uh sha M you trust hand that five times fast but uh yeah no looking forward to it I hope hoping it's a great weekend a little uh hoodie in the Blowfish tonight uh football tomorrow Lake Murray Sunday and uh come Monday I'll feel like hell and uh and get some rest yeah it's kind of how it work I'm working Monday what's going on this all right everybody that comes on the show named John gives us the hell about not being on we fall in line with uh with government mandated uh holidays and it's a union our business so um that's like that Jimmy Buffett song Come Monday it'll be all right that's right the Labor Day weekend show do you have your hush puppies on I mean always I got my hush that's a good song by the way hey hey I like some of the new videos little Corey Smith in there little uh Tyler chers I mean come on now yeah it's old JB he's he's a he's a connoisseur he's been cranking him out J over here writing songs hey I I'll claim that one lyrically I mean you know that was good I've uh a lot of people it's corny but I like it you know cuz I always write so I write so seriously when I'm writing about stuff I sound like a jerk at the time and that's not really me so it's good to write something fun for a change right uh but uh yeah that's uh it's uh the the JB there's probably not a month that goes by and sometimes during we a week that goes by that I don't get a song from him just hey look listen this to him is absolutely fantastic so he kind of is our our ambassador to good music hey on that note by the way the new Casey Donnie Hugh CD is about to drop half the songs are out and it is bad ass Casey Donahue bad ass with Casey just hung out with Casey a month ago really well you next time you hang out with him you know give me a shout because I just want to tell him that he's been doing it since college for me I'm a huge Casey Don you guy love Casey next time I'll uh I'll FaceTime you while while he's standing there please I'll give him an air hug I'll fly with you to Texas next time you go and I just I I just want to me well this was in Cabo we were all in Cabo well I'll fly to Cabo John whatever it takes man you tell me and and I'll be there all right I'll be there tomorrow I know I'll see you tomorrow I get to give you a bear hug at at the condo tomorrow I'm trying I'm trying to get flint to come on in town tonight and go to the hoodie concert with himself he said he is he told me this morning he is oh he called me earlier well he called me at midnight last night of course I'm in bed that's right so I didn't answer but uh talked to him this morning and uh I was like what are you doing tonight he's like nothing I was like we just get on into town get tickets I gave him where I'm sitting so getting tickets right beside me so well yeah yeah good luck he says he he'll be there but he won't but you know the TR we'll see all right all right John here we go um it's F finally time to play some football man I think one of the things that's going to sneak up on some people is this number 38 yes that is George Rogers number we're all aware of that that is also the number of seniors fourth fifth or sixth year that Carolina has on the roster that's the second most in the country 38 fourth fifth or six years seniors and let's remember a lot of those guys like the majority of them are playing like they're not just there they're here to play football there are 18 on the offensive side 16 on the defense and four special teamers you know what it's like to have a bunch of dudes around that understand the speed of the game that's got to be valuable right oh 100% I mean anytime you got guys with a experience playing experience uh that's uh invaluable um you know so we do have a lot of that but we're also going to have some young guys that hadn't played uh kind of kind of mixed in there a little bit but that'll be helpful for them to have those older guys around them no doubt about it yeah I I totally agree with that you know I I think that um you know there there's been so oh glad of you to join us uh there's been so much U difficulties man I I don't want to hear it Mike uh there's there's been so much discussion about I'm just kidding with you Mike I'll see you tomorrow and drink all of your liquor um there's been so much discussion about all of the competition we've had these discussions other people are having these discussions obviously and tomorrow we're going to see a bunch of guys play um and and at all the positions really I mean I'm I I even though we know who the starting offensive line is I'm John I'm pretty sure you're probably going to see at least another couple of guys get in there tomorrow and play I actually won't be shocked to see another quarterback go in from time to time uh and and spell in nor sellers but you know with all of that said we mentioned earlier like rotations like Mike furry now in charge of the rotations for wide receivers Marquel Blackwell that was a deficiency with montario Hardesty you could really argue that he was he struggled getting the right guy in the game at the right time from time to time so we'll be anxious to see what those rotations look like but like Michael you and I were talking about this on the phone this morning how do you get all these guys in the game and when you do how do you give them a fair enough chance to prove what they've been working towards which is playing time I mean when you think about it you got a lot of guys that are kind of on that same level um right now as far as you know at at the receiver position and it's you know you got it at the tight end position as well and there's only so many snaps to go around and you know there's a lot of guys at a lot of schools that are that are good that can really play but just there's not enough snaps for those guys to get and you see what happened with the kid from Florida state that just really didn't do a whole lot was good but he was behind some really good receivers decided to transfer and comes here and you kind of see what what has transpired over the last you know month in in Fall camp and it's you know I it's tough to say and it's all really a coach's call and a lot a lot of times it's a game time feel um and how these guys are feeling in the game if they're if they're in a rhythm and in a Groove it's hard to rotate guys in and out you know once once those guys are you know kind of in that in that Groove but you know that's one thing that's gonna be interesting to see is how we look to rotate these receivers and what kind of personnel groupings we utilize whether we use you know 21 Personnel or 12 Personnel or you know go with two tight ends or you know or uh 11 you know 11 Personnel I mean you know it just it depends but it's all about Rhythm and it's all about you know timing and getting these guys the ball in their hand but it's going to be interesting to see how this receiver rotation kind of lines up um in game one yeah I mean I agree it's really about the hot hand I mean you can tell once once the game starts this first couple of drives you can be like all right he's got it today I mean you go back to the uh Tennessee game 2022 me and Brewer are sitting there in the stands Spencer we watched those first uh that first drive that Spencer have versus Tennessee and then started the second drive me and Brewer look at each other you're like Cat's on fire tonight can't can't miss and me and Brew are like we're gonna win this game and sure enough Spencer lit him up I mean there's just some days that some guys you know it's like any of us in what we do daily you know work-wise or whatever at home some days you got better days than others and uh sometimes the hot hand I mean you kind of want to leave those guys out a little bit more as far as as far as the offense goes guys this we we talked to Harry minum yesterday he's with Odus sports.com and I'd say if just based on what do y'all think JC Phil you know based on what Harry was saying reading between the lines a little bit if there's concerns for ODU it's certainly in the back half of their defense um he he kind of flat out said yeah those guys are they're all new and they lost a bunch there and so we'll have to see uh you'd like to think that up front on both lines of scrimmage Carolina is better than Old Dominion but but it's got to be John I'll start with you here it's got to be you know if you feel like you can throw the football down the field on them and we know Lenor sers can throw the football down the field I'll be really curious to see what the game plan looks like because ultimately like this team is going be built around the run it needs to be we all know that like it needs to be built around rocket Sanders long term but but also like if you're going to attack them what does that look like especially early in the game are you trying to get into that groove or you're like hey man let's take some shots and see what happens honestly you're right this this offense is built to run with quarter quarterback we have and the running backs we have and the backup quarterback we have this this this offense is really built to put some yards on the ground and I think yesterday y'all did a over or under on rushing yards uh what was it like 135 and I think Mike took the under I'm like What's He smoking but anyways he was drinking with Billy cotton from our chat box but uh yeah but I mean I think we're going to try and Pound The Rock early and then we're going to take some shots and I think we will take a shot early if that run game's having some success uh you know those first two drives I think you'll see us uh pop one deep um you know could be something similar to what I saw Jared Brown do 65 yard post on a rope uh for a touchdown down the middle of the field makes sense brought back for a reason yeah yeah yeah you got a young signal caller yeah well I was gonna say you got a young signal caller makes sense to establish both early I mean you know and if if their secondary can be exploited then hey you know show everybody the arm yeah yeah I agree I mean I think you uh start out trying to pile on the ball maybe a few little short passes little wide receiver screens out to the left and right and you know get the juices flowing and then uh open it up yeah a lot of times when you got a Young quarterback like lenorris you like to get him into a rhythm and into a Groove very early in the game by throwing quick passes quick stuff just to get confidence up get those completions get the ball moving move the chain establish um some drives but it just feels different with him to an extent with the way he played last year the success that he had last year you know with the with the limited amount of snaps but I still think you know you you still do some of that because the the the atmosphere is going to be Lively he's G to be amped up everybody's gonna be amped up you gotta kind of allow him to have that but also kind of you gota you gotta calm it down a little bit to where you're not flying around too fast making mistakes missed assignments drop balls fumble you get overthrows you know what overthrows always worry me about a young inexperienced quarterback especially in like you know first start just so jacked up and you think you're putting the Right Touch on it but sometimes you know that that adrenaline's pumping it just little too much on it so you know that's why I think you need to get him like broke in I'd think about running him early uh you just get him hit and that settles you in quicker than just about anything I remember when Jake Jake Bentley was here sometimes Jake would start and the nerves would get to it he'd sell some balls but in games where he would maybe keep it and run to start with he was significantly calmer because he got that F you get that first hit in you guys know y'all played at a much higher level than I did that brings you back to life a little bit right it's all about ball if you get hit uh first time and and then nerves go out the window so maybe that's something I I doubt they're going to do it that way I think there's all kinds of ways you can do it other than it's either let him get loose with his arm or um or you know just anything but just handing the ball off to Rocket Sanders I think yeah and here's here's another point I wanted to make to agree with you guys if you're ODU and you're scouting South Carolina you don't have a lot to go on because there's probably like Jamie pointed out technically 10 new starters but you're probably looking at Sellers as a dual threat quarterback and you you said who scares you because we don't know any of these guys well rocket Sanders scares you um probably Jared Brown scares them because I think they played Jared Brown at Coast they did so yeah you know you're kind of going well you know we kind of run a three safety defense anyway let's creep these guys up let's not let them run all over us because they're probably thinking you're going to run all over them so if you're D with Loggins you got to counter that with some deeper intermediate throws or like the in the spring game when they attack the perimeter early I I hope we don't see that it's not my favorite thing but if it works it works you know you got to do something to kind of opening games are always kind of a chess match and stuff but I I I do think get he's calm anyway he's not a nervous he's not he's got this strange weird calm demeanor like just like very stoic yeah mik I think he'll be fine let me by the way the numbers on Jared Brown do have him versus ODU in his career in two games eight catches 114 yards and a touchdown um let me ask you this Mike young quarter all quarterbacks do right but but do young quarterbacks tend to when they feel comfortable with one guy maybe over everybody else do young quarterbacks tend to lean on that guy more than maybe a more experienced and an older guy would you know like if if you feel like you're in a little bit of trouble out there or you're in a little bit of a panic situation the game speeds up on you you instantly like okay where's where's my guy let me just try to get the ball is that is that more the case with young guys yeah I mean yeah I think so because when you got your number one guy that number one receiver tends to be a lot of times your PR not your primary read but to the play side if depending on the play that that that that guy tends to be in in that progression towards the top of that progression and when you're scrambling and when you're running and you know you got a guy that if you put it up there for him he's either gonna come down with it or or he's not going to let it get picked as long as it's in the vicinity and you I mean you see that with a lot but I think you know with any anybody whether it's a veteran or a young guy you you will tend to rely on that guy some because he's going to be in that progression but under chaos or under duress you when you know you got a guy out there that that that you can you can put the ball out there and that they're going to go up and and and and make a play or not allow a turnover but yeah I mean that's that's that's very natural um in any in any way and with any quarterback really um because that number one guy tends to be in in high in the progression of a of a route or or the scheme that the route is is is going with so yeah I mean it's it's natural but when you got that guy it's it's a lot easier to to to do that and I mean you yeah well let me follow up real quick with it let me follow up then you can answer it then John you can answer it too H how will we know as as fans those that are going to be sitting in the ballpark who we think Lenor sellers is most comfortable with early like that that's kind of what I was getting out there is if if he you know if there was somebody he connected with in the summer and then that kind of you know maybe it's Jared Brown maybe it's maybe it's Dre J Dre Jacobs whoever but like what what what are the for us to be like okay this is kind of his guy you know Xavier Legette last year that was Spencer's guy juice Wells that was Spencer's guy everybody's always got a guy we know that Alshon was was was Garcia's guy should be first round draft eight just like Xavier was last year but like H how do we I'm just trying to figure out like early in the game tomorrow how do we identify who we think Lenora sers blanket security blanket is I think when it it's it's it's tough because you you got to look at the scheme of the play that is called yeah um you know and a lot of times that could tend to be the tight end per se because when you're under duress when you're under under pressure you tend to look for kind of that that easy out or if you're scrambling the guy that is coming into your view they say if you're short go long if you're long go short under in scramble drill but um you know it's tough man it really is because you got to look at the play that's called um you got to look at what what's happening but you know I think one thing that that to kind of pivot is that you look at the you look at the safety net that lenorris feels with his offensive line and with him with a lot of young quarterbacks they tend to not feel the pressure they tend to see the pressure and if you see him come under pressure step up in the pocket slide one way or another keep his eyes downfield you know he's got that Comfort level with it with his with his lineman but it's when he starts to look at the pressure keep get his eyes down and try to see where he's going to go and then get his eyes back up that's that's where it gets to be challenging and that's kind of the one thing early on that I would look for more is that Comfort level when when he's under pressure and really being able to trust that offensive line because when you start looking down when pressures coming that's where that's where you're gonna the the mistakes are going to come in and you're gonna miss guys downfield but with the with the receivers it's it's tough man it it really is I think it's just more of a natural feel and kind of of who that number one guy is going to be but I think you know if you see a guy get a handful of targets early you know that's probably GNA be the one that might be his guy all right John let me let me transition a little bit to you before we get to the defense and then we got to got to hit a timeout here uh as the Stellar all SEC offensive lineman that you were South Carolina has started nine true freshman in the season opener since 2009 this is dating back 15 years but they've not started a freshman since 2019 the last one to do it his name was Jamie Robinson of course he ultimately transferred out to Florida State who will be 0 and2 after Monday night uh the other eight going all the way back to 09 Johnny Dixon also in 19 opposite Jamie if you remember or on the other on the other side of Jamie if you remember JC horn started as a freshman in 2018 Brian Edwards one of just two offensive players on this list as a wide out in 2016 Al har remember that name 2014 him and Bryson Allen Williams were a pair of true freshman that got on the field and then the others I think we know them all right jvon Clowney Marcus ladimore and Stefon Gilmore but that streak is over Josiah Thompson is gonna get the start on Saturday at left tackle what are you expecting out of the youngster ah I mean if he's earn the spot that means he's playing pretty good and I know I know tre's been good too so um I have heard that it is internally is well I'm not gonna get into it but uh he um yeah he I I think you're going to see a lot of good stuff for him and the thing about this is this isn't the dline that they're gonna go against next week in Kentucky so this is going to be good for him um you know there there's going to be some growing pains with h freshman I mean I don't care who you are I mean traval Wharton ask him he'll tell you I mean he started four years at left tackle probably what Jessi is going to do three or four years and uh I mean there's going to be some oopses and you know missed assignments and all that good stuff but I think uh I think I think we're in for a treat I mean it's we hadn't had a big six seven uh looking tackle like he looks in a long time and uh I'm I'm excited to watch him play and uh but as far as sellers though I know who that go-to wide receiver is I'm just not gonna put it out there oh come on man that's ridiculous I can't do that I can't do that all right I'll tell three three possibilities I ha I hate I think it's gonna be J I think it's Jacobs I I'm I don't know strick hadn't told me but I'm going between um I I think I just all of the good things I've heard about him and just I that's who I think it's gonna GNA beob I may be wrong but just his athleticism and just his sheer ability and JC I've I've seen a lot of things that you've written from people you've talked to in that Florida area that just have said how how great of an athlete he is and if you just get the ball in his hands great things happen and you know I think I think he's a guy that Lenor is is really gonna end up leaning on and I I may be wrong about that but I think he's a guy he's just such a natural and gifted athlete he's so fluid with the you know in in his in the way he runs and with the ball ball in his hands and that's you know that's a guy I think that's going to end up probably being being one of being that guy or being one of those top two two two guys that Lenoris leans on really yeah I'm glad it's happened this way because I just kind of took it on Blind Faith and some Limited film that he was pretty good but Florida receivers particularly South Florida receivers uh tend to be really good players um and he didn't leave Florida State because he wasn't good he was going to start so uh J Jared Brown is the other clear-cut starter there I think he got one got two guys are pretty explosive and Mao Bennett has had I've heard he's been really good the offense this offense has pieces it's gota like you guys have point out it's got It's got to blend together and they got to have a good year coaching and they gotta play the right guys but it's got pieces listen Our receiver in core they're going to be all right we just uh uh you know just we got a freshman at quarterback I just want remember right yeah set them play there's G to be some mistakes just lift the guy up you know he's go there's gonna be growing pains whenever you got young players that uh you know very important positions and you got two young players uh at two of the most important positions on offensive side of the ball this year so uh you know we may have a few Growing Pains here and there but but uh you know I I think uh I think we're in for a fun season and I think the future is very bright all those all those things you was talking about um Dre Jacobs all those all of his uh ability and his accolades and attributes all all the things that make him such an elite receiver uh maeso Bennett Mike mentioned maeso Bennett as just a young guy just can as a freshman he's going to play he's going to make an impact probably the best freshman white out we've had since Stephen Flint if I had to guess so the the best white out ever come out of the Flint family at least in my hon hey hey pan was a baller he he just Happ to play for junior so you know you can't hold out against him but anyways all right