The South Carolina secondary was expected to be a strength this season, especially at cornerback. But the pass defense has been underwhelming so far, and coach Will Muschamp is aware of it, and believes that area needs to improve.

Muschamp said at his Tuesday press conference that South Carolina has yielded 10 explosive pass plays in two games.

“Way too many, that is something that frustrating and we’ve gone and evaluated all plays multiple times in the last 48 hours … they’ve gone back and looked at each a lot over the last 48 hours,” Muschamp said. “They have to do a better job of getting the ball off the receiver.”

Muschamp added that the Gamecocks can’t simply make the routine plays, they need to get some interceptions. Muschamp is aware the Gamecocks have one interception this season, and are allowing eight yards per pass attempt, and he said that number needs to be five or less, which is about what they were in the first two years of the Muschamp tenure there.

“You can’t allow explosive plays and when we have opportunities in 50/50 situations, we have to do a better job of getting the ball on the ground,” Muschamp said.

The Gamecocks will get an opportunity this week against a Vanderbilt pass offense that ranks last in the SEC.