That will be a loss that is going to sting for several weeks. It might be the difference between going to the Gator Bowl or somewhere fans don’t really want to go. It is also another loss to a top 25 team for Will Muschamp at South Carolina. I was ready to write all about how impressive Bryan McClendon, Jake Bentley, and the Gamecock offense were today, but then the fourth quarter happened.
It the same story with South Carolina’s defense. The injuries definitely played a role, but they gave up 35 points to a Florida offense that didn’t really have a vertical passing game threat at all. It is difficult to give up over 500 yards to this Florida offense right now, but South Carolina’s defense found a way to do it.
They couldn’t stop Florida’s running game. The defense wasn’t physical. Florida’s offensive line dominated South Carolina’s defensive line all game. When Florida did drop back to pass, there was no pressure. The defensive line was not good today. TJ Brunson sticks out to me right now because he did make a couple plays behind the line of scrimmage.
The linebackers and safeties have been the weakness all year and they were bad once again today. It seemed that they got ran over more times than actually made a tackle. Florida’s quarterback was even more physical than they were today. The tackling was awful. My opinion is that South Carolina has to continue to search for another linebacker in this recruiting class. It is a huge need. It is also a must for South Carolina to finish strong in the secondary. The fix is recruiting better players.
South Carolina deserved to lose that game after the way the fourth quarter played out, but I do want to bring up one play that happened late in the third quarter that turned out to be a big one. It was a third down play and the snap was over the head of Franks. Franks got off a pass that was deflected and a Florida receiver made a play on it for the first down. When the receiver was going to the ground, it certainly looked like he fumbled but the refs blew the play dead for some reason. I thought that was a huge break for Florida because they were already down 31-14 and South Carolina would have had great field position once again. DJ Wonnum and Keir Thomas also failed to fall on a fumble early in the game as well.
I guess I have to start with the conservative play calling with the offense. I don’t understand how you can take the ball out of Jake Bentley’s hands like they did after going up 31-14. It definitely makes you wonder what all played into that decision. South Carolina did only have two possessions between going up 31-14 and being down 35-31. South Carolina had eight run plays and three passing plays on those two drives, but two of those passing plays were on third down in obvious passing situations (one of them converted). They had a chance to go for the kill and elected to play it safe. I don’t understand how you can do that with the way the defense is playing right now.
Jake Bentley played really well once again. Even some of his incompletions were really good passes. He did what he was supposed to do in this game. He wasn’t put in a good position on the last drive and had to force a ball on third and long. The offense clearly lost all their rhythm after going conservative in the fourth quarter. On that last drive, they had a holding penalty, had to burn a timeout, and had a drop.
The running game was good. I liked the play designs they were using with AJ Turner. They were getting him on the outside and it was working. Mon Denson also had some tough runs. The offense line was solid as well. Florida’s defense did start to get more pressure on the quarterback in the second half. Deebo Samuel also had a great game. Hopefully they can get Bryan Edwards close to 100-percent with Chattanooga the next game up.
I have to touch on Bryan McClendon’s play calling in the first three quarters. It was pretty to watch. I was thinking during that time that he is starting to feel real comfortable doing what he is doing. He involved the tight ends, loved the option play to Rico Dowdle for the touchdown, the slant to Deebo, and the tempo was working. The first two drives of the game were as close to perfect as you can get for South Carolina’s offense. That is why is hard to make sense of what happened in the fourth quarter.
South Carolina still has Chattanooga and Akron left on the schedule and should get to seven wins. The Clemson game will probably be ugly once again with the way the defense is playing. This team does still have a shot to get eight wins, but this loss is really going to hurt. They blew a great opportunity to get that top 25 win and it would have been their best win of the season. There is a lot of blame to go around for this one and the coaching staff is certainly part of that.
It the same story with South Carolina’s defense. The injuries definitely played a role, but they gave up 35 points to a Florida offense that didn’t really have a vertical passing game threat at all. It is difficult to give up over 500 yards to this Florida offense right now, but South Carolina’s defense found a way to do it.
They couldn’t stop Florida’s running game. The defense wasn’t physical. Florida’s offensive line dominated South Carolina’s defensive line all game. When Florida did drop back to pass, there was no pressure. The defensive line was not good today. TJ Brunson sticks out to me right now because he did make a couple plays behind the line of scrimmage.
The linebackers and safeties have been the weakness all year and they were bad once again today. It seemed that they got ran over more times than actually made a tackle. Florida’s quarterback was even more physical than they were today. The tackling was awful. My opinion is that South Carolina has to continue to search for another linebacker in this recruiting class. It is a huge need. It is also a must for South Carolina to finish strong in the secondary. The fix is recruiting better players.
South Carolina deserved to lose that game after the way the fourth quarter played out, but I do want to bring up one play that happened late in the third quarter that turned out to be a big one. It was a third down play and the snap was over the head of Franks. Franks got off a pass that was deflected and a Florida receiver made a play on it for the first down. When the receiver was going to the ground, it certainly looked like he fumbled but the refs blew the play dead for some reason. I thought that was a huge break for Florida because they were already down 31-14 and South Carolina would have had great field position once again. DJ Wonnum and Keir Thomas also failed to fall on a fumble early in the game as well.
I guess I have to start with the conservative play calling with the offense. I don’t understand how you can take the ball out of Jake Bentley’s hands like they did after going up 31-14. It definitely makes you wonder what all played into that decision. South Carolina did only have two possessions between going up 31-14 and being down 35-31. South Carolina had eight run plays and three passing plays on those two drives, but two of those passing plays were on third down in obvious passing situations (one of them converted). They had a chance to go for the kill and elected to play it safe. I don’t understand how you can do that with the way the defense is playing right now.
Jake Bentley played really well once again. Even some of his incompletions were really good passes. He did what he was supposed to do in this game. He wasn’t put in a good position on the last drive and had to force a ball on third and long. The offense clearly lost all their rhythm after going conservative in the fourth quarter. On that last drive, they had a holding penalty, had to burn a timeout, and had a drop.
The running game was good. I liked the play designs they were using with AJ Turner. They were getting him on the outside and it was working. Mon Denson also had some tough runs. The offense line was solid as well. Florida’s defense did start to get more pressure on the quarterback in the second half. Deebo Samuel also had a great game. Hopefully they can get Bryan Edwards close to 100-percent with Chattanooga the next game up.
I have to touch on Bryan McClendon’s play calling in the first three quarters. It was pretty to watch. I was thinking during that time that he is starting to feel real comfortable doing what he is doing. He involved the tight ends, loved the option play to Rico Dowdle for the touchdown, the slant to Deebo, and the tempo was working. The first two drives of the game were as close to perfect as you can get for South Carolina’s offense. That is why is hard to make sense of what happened in the fourth quarter.
South Carolina still has Chattanooga and Akron left on the schedule and should get to seven wins. The Clemson game will probably be ugly once again with the way the defense is playing. This team does still have a shot to get eight wins, but this loss is really going to hurt. They blew a great opportunity to get that top 25 win and it would have been their best win of the season. There is a lot of blame to go around for this one and the coaching staff is certainly part of that.
