During his Tuesday press conference, South Carolina coach Will Muschamp expressed frustration with his team’s 11 penalties in its 24-10 loss to No. 13 Kentucky last Saturday.

One particular penalty, though, didn’t seem to irk him all that much.

In the second half of the game, freshman defensive back Jaycee Horn was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct following a play. Junior defensive linemen Javon Kinlaw and Keir Thomas immediately reprimanded him, with the latter shoving Horn in the facemask.

When asked about the play, Muschamp was pleased with how his veterans disciplined Horn on the field. But then the Gamecocks coach suggested he actually liked Horn’s aggressiveness.

“Jaycee is a freshman. He made a mistake. You know what, at the end of the day, he’s really excited about playing for South Carolina. And we step over the line sometimes. I would rather say ‘whoa’ than ‘giddy-up,’ and with Jaycee Horn I have to say that a lot, which is an awesome thing to be able to say. I wish we had more, to be honest with you. The real good players I’ve been around, you had to say that a lot. A lot. You had to pull them back, pull them off the field at times. It’s the good defenses I’ve been around; you had to do it a bunch. It’s really fun, really fun. And we’ll get there. You ever seen (Seattle Seahawks defensive back) Earl Thomas play? I love him.”

It’s definitely strange to hear a coach — especially one as intense as Muschamp — say he doesn’t mind those kind of penalties. But Muschamp has been in the business long enough that we should probably take his word for it.