Adams: South Carolina's secondary gets first test

The Gamecocks rank second in the SEC in pass defense. They have intercepted nine passes and allowed only four touchdown passes.

But those numbers probably say more about the competition than the Gamecocks.

Only Kentucky of South Carolina's first five SEC opponents ranks in the top half of the conference in passing. Three of those opponents --Georgia, Mississippi State and Vanderbilt -- have struggled with their passing games all year; Auburn is more run-oriented.

Non-conference opponents haven't offered much of a challenge to South Carolina's pass defense, either. Division I-AA Wofford runs an option-oriented offense, and Florida Atlantic, which hasn't scored more than eight points in five of its games, doesn't run anything with success.

Bottom line: South Carolina, which gave up 289 yards passing against Kentucky, doesn't have reason to be confident against UT's SEC-leading passing offense.

On second thought, it has one reason. Senior Fred Bennett, who was a second-team preseason All-American, is one of the best cornerbacks in the SEC. He has started more games, 28, than the other three secondary starters have combined.

And he knows what he's up against Saturday at Williams-Brice Stadium.

"Every year, Tennessee has one of the best receiving corps in the nation," Bennett said. "They're big and physical."

So is the guy against whom he practices the most.

South Carolina's Sidney Rice, a 6-foot-4, 200-pound sophomore, was regarded as the premier receiver in the SEC after last season.

"We compete against each other all the time," said Bennett (6-1, 200). "He has helped me a lot."

In a best of all South Carolina worlds, Bennett would have had plenty of help in the secondary this season. Free safety Ko Simpson and cornerback Johnathan Joseph entered the NFL draft after their junior seasons.

With their departure, what would have been the SEC's most experienced secondary has found itself relying on sophomore starters Carlos Thomas at cornerback and Stoney Woodson at free safety. Chris Hampton, a junior, starts at rover.

When the Gamecocks go to their bench, they really get young in the secondary. All four backups are true freshmen. One of the freshman, Chris Hail, was a wide receiver until two weeks ago.

So you can see why secondary coach Ron Cooper might be concerned about trying to match up against UT wide receivers Robert Meachem, Jayson Swain and Bret Smith, who have combined for 92 catches and 1,497 yards.

"Tennessee keeps three wide receivers in most of the time," Cooper said. "On third down, a lot of times they will go four wide.

"They've got really good receivers who have played a lot of SEC football. And we've got some young guys that hadn't. All we ask is that they do what they're supposed to do.

"We'll just see how it goes."

It probably won't go as well as South Carolina's pass defense stats would indicate.