Marcus Satterfield sounds off on recent woes, fan frustrations, state of USC offense

South Carolina’s offense is in a lull.

Offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield spoke to reporters about that and more Wednesday following a 38-6 loss to Florida in Gainesville and ahead of the Gamecocks’ home game against Tennessee.

Here’s what Satterfield said:

What were your general thoughts on Florida?

“It was not a good night for us on offense. We started out slow, not being able to run the ball. We had four possessions in the first half. Went three and out on a couple of them. Had a couple late possession drops.

I thought we worked well, coach (Shane) Beamer and I, on the communication part. We were able to be safe on that third down and run it and set up that fake punt opportunity — which was an unreal play by our guys.

Second half, to start out with three turnovers on five plays is just unacceptable. Very frustrating. Very unacceptable. And once you got through those three possessions, then every time you can get a first down or explosive play we got called back for a penalty. Collectively, as a group, the way we executed and the way that we performed was not the standard which we try to play to.”

Heading into Tennessee, is there any thought of mixing up rotations, giving some different guys a few more carries and what can you do to get the run game going?

“If you turn the ball over three times like that — bam, bam, bam — you’re not gonna have any run game going. That was, again, very frustrating. But we’ll do whatever we have to do to run the football, whether that’s running Spencer (Rattler) on every down or getting big people. Whatever it takes, I’m going to try to do it to make sure that we can get spread out on the field and get some first downs.”

When the game gets a bit out of hand in the first quarter like it did at Florida, how much do you have to get off-script in terms of your gameplan?

“I fell back on the lessons learned against Missouri, where we were talking about just getting away from the gameplan too quick. That game we were trying to be steadfast with what we were trying to establish in the run game and trying to get back to what we were trying to get going. Our guys never panicked. Again, to come out the second half and do what we did for the first few drives, it’s tough.”

Not having your top two running backs in MarShawn Lloyd and Christian Beal-Smith, do you look to rotate in some other guys or do you sense any frustration with some of those other backs?

“There’s no frustration with anybody. It’s just reacting and evaluating the roster. Like, Jaheim Bell is one of the most talented people on Earth. Trying to find ways to give him the ball, it just makes sense to let him play running back. Juju (McDowell) has got his role and has been practicing well.

Those other guys need to keep coming along and keep practicing better. And once we feel like we can put them in the game and they have a chance to be productive, then they’ll go in the game.”

On the turnovers against Florida, is there anything you can do to coach that or is it just luck?

“It isn’t luck. It’s a decision. From our standpoint, as coaches, we have to coach it and demand that every single day in practice — position coaches, me included. As a player, you have to make a decision.

If we trust you enough to put the ball in your hands on that play, you have to make a decision to take care of the football. We say, ‘The ball is king.’ You have to make a decision to carry the ball properly. And all three times the other night when we did turn the ball over it was a product of poor ball security, poor technique of carrying the football — which is not just the player, it’s the coaches as well.

There’s something disconnected through this whole process of practice that we must not be demanding enough. You don’t want to be reactionary. That’s the most frustrating thing. ... We do ball security every day. We’ve added a couple more periods this week just to honor the gods of ball security just to show them that we are trying to take care of the football.”

How do you manage the frustrations about the offense coming from the outside?

“I know what’s out there. It’s tougher on my family and on our players, because they don’t get to come in the bunker and basically just disconnect from the world. We (as coaches) disconnect and don’t have any clue what you’re writing and what you’re saying, any of that stuff. We know it’s out there, obviously, but we can just kind of bunker down here and separate ourselves from it.

“So it’s more family and and our players having to process all the information. But I love it. I’ve worked my whole life in football and I’ve been too many places where even though you had the game, it’s basketball season, they’re in the gym. I love the fact that we’re that passionate about this program, about this organization.

It’s frustrating at times. It is. I need to get our guys playing better. You pay to come out here, you want to see a product. As a coach, I want to see a product of our hard work and practice. It’s frustrating. I totally get it. I have no ill will toward anybody. Everybody has the right to their opinion. It does get tough sometimes, but it is what it is. You sign up to do this job, you’re going to go through the ups and downs of it.”

Why do you think the offense hasn’t clicked this year?

“I think just inconsistency. Inconsistency in guys staying healthy at the right time. I think the guys learning a new offense. It’s one thing to learn it during the spring, during the summer. It’s another thing to get to camp and get to playing games. They’re learning each other through games — coach to coach, coaches to players. The inconsistency of having all of our guys at the same time. I think whenever you lose a guy like MarShawn Lloyd, who’s a first down every three to four times he touches the ball, that hurts you.

“It’s been a little bit of a grab bag at times just to make sure that we’re doing things to try and move the ball. Creating consistency. And then I think confidence. Our guys have got to be confident they’ve worked, evolved. They’re resilient. They’re tough and love each other. They love playing the game.

“I think when we get things going early, usually it’s pretty good. If it doesn’t go great early, sometimes we have to fight some demons. There’s all kinds of different reasons for the inconsistency. Guys come back to work this week, ready to go. And we’ve convinced ourselves we’re ready to win the Super Bowl this week with how we’ve practiced. I can’t wait to watch them on that stage on Saturday night and, shoot, they’ve earned the right to go and compete with the way they’ve worked and been resilient in this process.”

With Lloyd being out, how has that changed the identity of this offense?

“I think we’re reshaping our identity. I think our identity now becomes a team that can throw the ball and spin it there and have the ability to put (Dakereon Joyner) out there and to have that ability. I think the ability to have Jaheim out there as a receiver and at running back, a guy like Nate Adkins that does a little bit of everything. You’ve got (Austin) Stogner who can work in the middle of the field.

I think our identity is more of our mindset more so than what you see on the field. And it’s the taught to be willing to do whatever it takes, no matter what, no matter how hard or how long it takes, to try to get things done.”

Sticking on identity, how much can that be changed 11 weeks into the season?

“I wouldn’t say that we’re trying to reshape our identity. We have our identity as far as a program and as an offense. Are we able to huddle up and run 65 plays and hand the ball off and rush for 250 yards right now? No. That feeds into the play-action pass and the movements and all the different concepts we try to use.

We’re still the same offense. We just have to get cleaned up and go make some plays out there, take care of the football.”

QB Spencer Rattler and some other guys have mentioned not being able to get into a rhythm. Does that have anything to do with personnel changing as much as it does at the skill positions?

“That’s a very good point. I think a lot of times, in order for us to get in a rhythm we use tempo, which would mean we aren’t subbing a lot of guys and they’re really getting in a rhythm that way in the game.

But usually, in order to get into your tempo, you’ve got to get the first down. That’s kind of like the golden rule — get a first down, get into tempo. At times against Missouri, I mean, we played our worst. We thought we hit rock bottom against Missouri. We came back and had a good game (vs. Vanderbilt) and then we hit rock bottom against Florida with the turnovers, inconsistency and the penalties.

We’ve had our two worst games the last three weeks. Multiply that by a million and that’s how we feel right now. But I think just going out there and and running the football and making some plays early, I think will allow us to get into that rhythm.

We were about to get into some rhythm the other night. We have a penalty and we go from a 45-yard pass back to second-and-12 on the minus-three. Little things like that all play into it, but we’re definitely all searching for that consistent flow from week-to-week.”

When things aren’t working, how much do you balance adjusting vs. staying the course with what you do?

“I’m sure most people would think I was stubborn or old school — and I’m not — I just look at it as a toughness and a commitment to a process that allows you to get to certain points as a football organization or individually. We know what it takes to win. We know what it takes to play smart football. We know what it takes to take care of the football. We know what it takes to run the football. We just have to be demanding as coaches out there at practice.

“I’m always searching for ways to do things better. I hate being reactionary, because I hate when coaches come in and like, ‘Oh my God, this week, we’re gonna take care of the ball and ball security.’ I hate that. You don’t ever want to be reactionary, because that means that you let something go before it happened.

“I think offensively, we’re always trying to find better ways to do what we do. Whether that’s going to find finding a whole new scheme — not so much during the season. But we’re always trying to coach them well if it’s a formation, or a snap count, whatever it is. We will do whatever it is to make sure we’re doing better and more fluid. We will do anything we have to do.”