If there is such a thing as an ugly win, then that was it. South Carolina played bad football for three quarters but somehow found a way to win the game in the fourth quarter. There was a lot of bad for South Carolina in this game but I want to start off with the positive.
I don’t want people to take this as me spinning this win because that is not my intent. Louisiana Tech is not an awful football team. They might win their conference this year. South Carolina was not playing UMASS today. With all of that said, there is no excuse for what happened through three quarters of the game.
I think you have to give the players some credit for what they did in the fourth quarter. They didn’t quit. They found a way to survive and get the win.
A big question coming in was who was going to step up in the absence of Deebo Samuel. I think two guys definitely made their case today at receiver. The first was Bryan Edwards. He probably dropped two balls that he could have caught but he also had some big time catches, none bigger than his last catch of the game. He saved South Carolina’s butt. I think they need to target him more down the field and give him more 50/50 balls. The second guy was OrTre Smith. He had the touchdown grab last week, but his touchdown catch this week was a grown man catch. He is a physical guy and has the look of someone that should be really good for South Carolina.
Another offensive player that stepped up today was Ty’Son Williams. The kid produces when he gets the ball. I’m confused why he hasn’t touched the ball more this season. I was watching him play in the first quarter and it made me even more confused why he didn’t have a single carry last week. Then, he disappears again in the second half today after his fumble. I understand punishing the kid for fumbling but he looks to me to be the best running back on the team. He needs to be on the field. His first touch after the fumble, he takes it to the house. I think he has proved for now that he needs to be the feature back and Rico Dowdle is the second guy. I think that is obvious.
I thought Jake Bentley had another so-so performance overall. I might have been expecting a little more from him this season and that might be my fault. I don’t agree with anyone that says he needs to be benched. I’m also still very high on the kid’s potential and I think he is going to be a really good quarterback at South Carolina. The deep balls are a little concerning to me with Bentley. I thought he was better last year at throwing the deep ball. Since the NC State game, he hasn’t been accurate throwing the ball down the field. He also seemed to get happy feet today in the pocket. I thought he felt pressure when pressure wasn’t there a couple times. His footwork isn’t always the best either.
Bentley did make some good plays today. The touchdown pass to Smith was put right on target. He had a nice back shoulder pass to Hayden Hurst. The scramble for the big gain on the last drive was huge. He does have to play better going forward for South Carolina to have a chance to beat most of the SEC teams.
The offensive line is struggling right now and the injuries aren’t helping matters. They really missed Zack Bailey today. The bottom line is they need more talent on the offensive line and that is only going to happen through recruiting. They have to develop some guys. I thought the pass protection might have been the worst it has been all season today.
I’m sure a lot of talk this week is going to be about offensive play calling and I think it is a very fair discussion right now. I questioned several things about the offense today and last week. I’ve already touched on not getting Williams the ball more at running back. I thought they went away from the running game a little too much. They were having success running the ball in the first half and would just go away from it. It seemed like Louisiana Tech was bringing pressure a good bit today but South Carolina never dialed up one screen play that I remember. The deep shots on third and short were confusing. There needs to be some changes with what is going on with the offense right now.
The good news with the defense is they only gave up 16 points, the lowest Louisiana Tech has scored this season, and they only gave up 80 yards rushing. The rushing statistic was a little surprising to me because I didn’t think the defensive line played well today. They are a little banged up right now but the pass rush was pretty bad. I also didn’t agree with only bringing three guys on a couple third and long plays.
The bend but don’t break style has worked for the defense through four games but I think they are about to play some teams that could take advantage of that. The secondary is a concern for me going into the Texas A&M and Arkansas games. They seem soft (I’m talking about the soft coverage) and slow right now. They did make some plays in the fourth quarter and were breaking on passes better. The interception by Jamarcus King turned out to be the turning point in the game.
Give Parker White credit for making that field goal at the end of the game. It might give him some confidence and maybe the kicking game is about to turn around.
South Carolina will travel to Texas A&M next weekend for a night game. I do think it is a winnable game for South Carolina but they are going to have to play a lot better. The offense has to come up with a better game plan than what they came up with today because they are going to have to score some points to win next weekend. The injuries on this team are really hurting right now. They need some good news this week on the injury front.
I don’t want people to take this as me spinning this win because that is not my intent. Louisiana Tech is not an awful football team. They might win their conference this year. South Carolina was not playing UMASS today. With all of that said, there is no excuse for what happened through three quarters of the game.
I think you have to give the players some credit for what they did in the fourth quarter. They didn’t quit. They found a way to survive and get the win.
A big question coming in was who was going to step up in the absence of Deebo Samuel. I think two guys definitely made their case today at receiver. The first was Bryan Edwards. He probably dropped two balls that he could have caught but he also had some big time catches, none bigger than his last catch of the game. He saved South Carolina’s butt. I think they need to target him more down the field and give him more 50/50 balls. The second guy was OrTre Smith. He had the touchdown grab last week, but his touchdown catch this week was a grown man catch. He is a physical guy and has the look of someone that should be really good for South Carolina.
Another offensive player that stepped up today was Ty’Son Williams. The kid produces when he gets the ball. I’m confused why he hasn’t touched the ball more this season. I was watching him play in the first quarter and it made me even more confused why he didn’t have a single carry last week. Then, he disappears again in the second half today after his fumble. I understand punishing the kid for fumbling but he looks to me to be the best running back on the team. He needs to be on the field. His first touch after the fumble, he takes it to the house. I think he has proved for now that he needs to be the feature back and Rico Dowdle is the second guy. I think that is obvious.
I thought Jake Bentley had another so-so performance overall. I might have been expecting a little more from him this season and that might be my fault. I don’t agree with anyone that says he needs to be benched. I’m also still very high on the kid’s potential and I think he is going to be a really good quarterback at South Carolina. The deep balls are a little concerning to me with Bentley. I thought he was better last year at throwing the deep ball. Since the NC State game, he hasn’t been accurate throwing the ball down the field. He also seemed to get happy feet today in the pocket. I thought he felt pressure when pressure wasn’t there a couple times. His footwork isn’t always the best either.
Bentley did make some good plays today. The touchdown pass to Smith was put right on target. He had a nice back shoulder pass to Hayden Hurst. The scramble for the big gain on the last drive was huge. He does have to play better going forward for South Carolina to have a chance to beat most of the SEC teams.
The offensive line is struggling right now and the injuries aren’t helping matters. They really missed Zack Bailey today. The bottom line is they need more talent on the offensive line and that is only going to happen through recruiting. They have to develop some guys. I thought the pass protection might have been the worst it has been all season today.
I’m sure a lot of talk this week is going to be about offensive play calling and I think it is a very fair discussion right now. I questioned several things about the offense today and last week. I’ve already touched on not getting Williams the ball more at running back. I thought they went away from the running game a little too much. They were having success running the ball in the first half and would just go away from it. It seemed like Louisiana Tech was bringing pressure a good bit today but South Carolina never dialed up one screen play that I remember. The deep shots on third and short were confusing. There needs to be some changes with what is going on with the offense right now.
The good news with the defense is they only gave up 16 points, the lowest Louisiana Tech has scored this season, and they only gave up 80 yards rushing. The rushing statistic was a little surprising to me because I didn’t think the defensive line played well today. They are a little banged up right now but the pass rush was pretty bad. I also didn’t agree with only bringing three guys on a couple third and long plays.
The bend but don’t break style has worked for the defense through four games but I think they are about to play some teams that could take advantage of that. The secondary is a concern for me going into the Texas A&M and Arkansas games. They seem soft (I’m talking about the soft coverage) and slow right now. They did make some plays in the fourth quarter and were breaking on passes better. The interception by Jamarcus King turned out to be the turning point in the game.
Give Parker White credit for making that field goal at the end of the game. It might give him some confidence and maybe the kicking game is about to turn around.
South Carolina will travel to Texas A&M next weekend for a night game. I do think it is a winnable game for South Carolina but they are going to have to play a lot better. The offense has to come up with a better game plan than what they came up with today because they are going to have to score some points to win next weekend. The injuries on this team are really hurting right now. They need some good news this week on the injury front.
