Gamecock D has been BAD before, but bailed out by Clowney

Once Deke Adams took over SC's
 D-line, Clowney's numbers took a
nosedive. No. 7 survived on raw talent.

Remember Jadeveon Clowney rag-dolling Georgia QB Aaron Murray, causing a fumble to put the Gamecocks up by 10 late in the game, at Georgia in 2011?

That was Clowney's freshman year. He has the amount of talent seldom seen and he was being taught well by then-Defensive Line Coach Brad Lawing.

When you think of Clowney's best, the 2012 game versus Tennessee comes to mind. It was the game in which Marcus Lattimore sustained his most-gruesome and last injury at South Carolina. 

In that game Clowney separated the ball from Vols QB Tyler Bray, to again save what would have been a loss thanks to the Gamecocks' horrible pass defense. 

 And of course, who could forget THE HIT versus Michigan, in the Outback Bowl after the 2012 season.

But what may have been missed, that now is beginning to need examination, is some commonalities in those games.

First: even after USC defensive coordinator extraordinaire Ellis Johnson left the gamecocks after the 2011 season, Lawing stayed on.

And with Lawing at SC, the shining spot on the Gamecocks' defense was the play of the D-line.

In the aforementioned South Carolina games versus Georgia, Tennessee and Michigan, the SC defense, mostly the secondary, squandered double-digit leads late, only to be saved by Clowney or the Gamecock offense.

The total ineptness of the defense has been with Carolina for a while, but it became pronounced when the last, best coach, Brad Lawing, left for Florida.

With Lawing's departure after the 2012 season, Clowney opened the season versus UNC.

Deke Adams - who was coached by USC special teams coordinator Joe Robinson at Southern Miss – without much debate was quickly tapped from ACC-program UNC, to replace Lawing.

In Clowney's first game under Adam's tutelage, the first without Lawing coaching him, Clowney looked to be playing out of place. He over-ran plays repeatedly and was most effective only in the fear that he imposed on the opponents. His performance was disappointing, after he had been so super.

Clowney was viciously attacked, after the UNC game, for being out of shape, when in reality he was trying too hard. He wore himself out compensating for being mis-positioned.

Clowney never regained the high profile reputation he had developed, and deserved, under Lawing.

But the deficiency in his coaching was overlooked because of Clowney's extraordinary talent. And the Gamecocks were still managing wins.

But as those wins turn to ugly losses in 2014, with the Gamecocks unable to get stops at critical points, it triggers the memory of how bad the USC defense has performed since Ellis Johnson left.

Brad Lawing was the last quality defensive coach at USC, and this year, the talent brought in by the former defensive coaches has run out.

It's easy to say it should have been addressed long ago. The signs have been staring us in the face since the 2012 collapses, that did not cost many games. But it's also easy to hold pat with 11 wins a year.

No one knew the wheels would come off so quickly. And now The Gamecocks, and the fans are paying the price for ignoring some very obvious flaws, that have been evident for a while. 

The D has been scary to watch for three years. Now it's excruciating.