South Carolina fall practice recap: T-Rob says secondary “light years away” but progressing; Steven Montac joins team

Today was the last practice for the Gamecocks before they put on full pads tomorrow. Will Muschamp’s said numerous times that “football is played in pads” and has implied that having the team in shorts doesn’t really give him an accurate read on how things will play out. However, once the pads come on at around 8:15 tomorrow morning, the intensity is sure to be turned up to another level.

Bits and pieces we picked up, along with our take:

T-Rob on the secondary

The secondary continues to be a big area of concern for the Gamecocks, but from Travaris Robinson’s comments, things are moving along pretty well.

He did give some insight into the style of play the defense would run, which he estimated at about 60-70% man coverage. That’s similar to the coverage Muschamp ran during his time at Florida, so it’s not surprising that they’ll adopt that same style here.

During his post-practice availability, Robinson singled out several players, and one of the players that came up was Bryson Allen-Williams. Allen-Williams, to me, has the opportunity to become a strong leader and voice for the defense to look up to as the staff continues to look to their healthy LBs to fill Skai Moore’s spot. The junior made a good impression under the new staff early on - hopefully that momentum carries on to strong play on the field.

Montac arrives

The team did welcome Steven Montac to the roster as he has finally cleared any remaining hurdles. Montac played for Coffeyville Community College - where he was teammates with Jamarcus King and South Carolina commit Eldridge Thompson - recording an interception, seventeen tackles and a pass breakup in 2015. He will be eligible right away as a sophomore.