W
Wes Mitchell
Guest
Alright folks - I'm here to talk about it. To play amateur psychologist, to try and make sense of it all, and to let you all yell at me if need be.
I won't sugarcoat it to you. Saturday night was a big missed opportunity for this program with a chance to have a special night and start 3-0 with a large contingency of top recruits on campus. But I will try to give some perspective in where things currently stand after a 2-1 start to the season.
WHAT WENT WRONG?
** First of all, no one within the program saw this coming. As Will Muschamp confirmed in the post-game, preparation was good last week. While the team was far from perfect in the first two weeks, they did play two relatively clean football games and avoided many of the self-inflicted issues that plagued them throughout the loss to Kentucky. The team was fired up all week long for this game and confidence was high.
At the end of the day, though, they have to execute. We talked a lot about how they did the little things right in those games and that just simply wasn't the case Saturday night. The transitive property doesn't exist in football, but the first sign of the day that things may not be quite as far along as we thought for the team was Purdue hammering Missouri at Missouri. That doesn't always mean anything, but that Mizzou win doesn't look quite as pretty anymore.
** Despite all the feel-good feelings of the first two weeks, this team still isn't good enough to have all the issues it did Saturday and still beat a solid SEC team. Kentucky isn't great, but they're solid and they took what Carolina gave them. It's easy to get caught up in the surprise 2-0 start (I'm as guilty as anyone), because it's a good story, and everything seemed to set up perfectly for Carolina for Saturday. But as soon as clean football turned sloppy, all of that went out the window.
We said preseason that for almost every game on the schedule that South Carolina could win or lose depending on how they play. This isn't a team that can ... miss three field goals and an extra point, jump offsides multiple times, squander short fields, have a delay of game to erase three points, fail to convert short-yardage situations, miss more tackles than in the first two games, and get worn down in the running game ... and still have a chance to win the game against decent competition.
** It appears that co-offensive coordinator Kurt Roper is taking the largest amount of blame from the fan base at this point, and I get it, I really do. But the "FIRE COACH X" narrative the second things aren't as good as expected after just three games (and one season and three games total) is tiresome and another example of the knee-jerk, microwave society we live in now.
I'm a big believer that football is a game that when things don't go well, there's plenty of blame to go around for pretty much everyone involved. Does Roper probably wish he had some calls back? Absolutely. Does Jake Bentley wish had some throws back? Absolutely. Does Will Muschamp wish he had made a difference decision here or there? I'm sure.
When a team fails to convert a fourth and 1 (for example), everyone tends to focus on that play, or a small sample of plays, but really the reason you lose a game isn't just because of those plays we focus on. It's because of the totality of all the plays combined together. Sometimes the offense has the better play on, sometimes the defense has the better play on. It's a constant back and forth throughout the game, but most of the time the team with the best players wins. Playcalling has also become the catch-all term for when a play doesn't go right, but it's often thrown out without complete knowledge of why the play was called in a certain situation and without an explanation of why the play was wrong against a certain defensive look. There were some calls that Roper would change looking back, but that's the case for every single game that's ever been played.
** There was a belief within the program after reviewing the Missouri tape that the offense was this close to putting it all together, and that obviously wasn't the case. We all knew coming into this season that the offensive line was going to make or break the offense and it's been a mixed bag there. The pass protection has actually been good, for the most part, but there was little, to no, push against Kentucky in the run game.
For those who have hammered the playcalling, it does feel like the offense has struggled to get into a true rhythm at times, but how much is that about playcalling and how much of that is just not converting on third downs? I'm not sure. The way to find a rhythm is to stay on the field and stack successful plays on top of successful plays. Both first quarter drives that started in UK territory featured a false start within the first two plays of the drive. Not a great way to find a rhythm.
For most of the drives after that, South Carolina tried to get its running game going, and didn't go backwards, but couldn't quite find enough room to make first downs either. They finally found some room using Deebo Samuel as a decoy in the jet sweep and got a first down on two AJ Turner runs, but then had another false start on what appeared to be a deep ball shot dialed up off play action. It's almost impossible to be a great playcaller when there's no consistent running game and the team is behind the sticks.
** I have a hard time being too hard on the defense, even though there were certainly issues it could have handled better, and Kentucky was able to chip away with the running game all night. The defense held Kentucky to 23 points, forced several field goals, and gave the offense the short field multiple times. For what they are - still a work in progress - it's hard to blame them, especially considering the overall lack of depth. They gave the offense a chance as they have in almost every game of the Muschamp era so far. They're just not at a point talent wise where they can be expected to just shut teams down completely. The big run late by Stephen Johnson hurt, obviously, but that's football.
** All of the missed kicks absolutely killed the team. The 10 points that were left out there - or even just the four points from the PAT and delay of game - could have completely changed the way the game played out.
WHERE DOES IT GO FROM HERE?
** More on the running game. I don't know what the answer is, but everyone knew going in that the Gamecocks needed to win or match Kentucky in the running game to win, and it was nowhere close. I don't know if the answer is to add more diversity or to simplify and execute better, but the running game has to find something it can hold its hat on. The inside zone is the staple play right now, but there doesn't appear to be much consistent push, particularly when the opponent is selling out against the run.
At times, there was some room to run on early downs, but none of those busted open into long runs and when Kentucky knew the Gamecocks were running on short yardage, there was no push at all. Even when you're outnumbered at the point of attack, the offense still needs to be able to convert short yardage situations at least part of the time. It's time for TySon Williams to get a real shot to show what he can do as well.
** It feels like Jake Bentley may be putting too much pressure on himself. It's hard for a quarterback to be great when he feels like he has to do it all and that's just the impression I get from re-watching the game. Without the running game to lean on, that put even more pressure on Bentley, who would be the first to tell you that he's missed some throws he usually makes.
He has played solid and had a stretch where he was hitting a bunch of throws in a row, but the accuracy wasn't there at times. I think we all also have to remember he's still only a sophomore and he's going to only get better. But I think the first step for that is a step back and not to put the weight of the entire program on his shoulders.
** Recruiting: There's no doubt that this loss hurts in that it was a huge missed opportunity. Rarely do recruits make decisions based on one game, but a 3-0 start, and possible 4-0 start, is something that the staff could sell as real progress to the prospects wondering if Carolina can win big. The narrative had quickly become that this rebuild job was ahead of schedule and the Gamecocks were an early surprise darling. So that part sort of goes away. What can still be solid, though, is the atmosphere, the need for early playing time, and the upward trajectory of the program. The prospects we have talked to who were at the game, had an excellent time, regardless of the loss.
** One fourth of the way through the season, the magical 3-0 start may not have happened, but big picture a 2-1 start, when they were an underdog in two of the three games, is probably right about "on schedule" for what was expected of the team. Everything that went right in the first two games, went wrong in this one, and it was too much to overcome. But that doesn't mean the season is over and it doesn't mean Carolina won't steal one they're not supposed to win either. The story of this season is yet to be written. Carolina will now have to re-focus on a pesky Louisiana Tech team and get to 3-1 before another big opportunity presents itself with a trip to A&M.
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