Coming off of the bye week, we will dive into the first half grades for South Carolina football.
We are half way through the season, and South Carolina football sits at 3-3 with a 2-3 record in the SEC. The Gamecocks are coming off of a bye week following their disappointing loss to Texas A&M.
This week, the Gamecocks will take on the Tennessee Volunteers at Williams-Brice Stadium, at night. Finally a night game for the Gamecocks’ fans, one they have been longing for.
We will look at grades for the first half of the season.
Offense
The Gamecocks have been up and down on offense.
Throughout the entire first half of the season, South Carolina has been up and down on offense. At times Jake Bentley has played well, at times, he’s played terribly.
The receivers have been great in certain situations. They have also had a ton of drops, none more costly than against Texas A&M.
The running backs have been up and down as well. As soon as Rico Dowdle starts playing well, he almost vanishes from the offense, and the coaches have been extremely reluctant to get Ty’son Williams more touches.
The offensive line has been much of the same. They have played well at times, and have given up too much pressure at others.
Ultimately, the offense could have played better on many occasions. They also could have played worse, much worse.
For the first half of the season, the offense gets a grade of C.
Defense
The South Carolina defense has been great this season.
During the first half of the season, the Gamecocks’ defense has played amazingly well.
Yes, they gave up too many points against Georgia and Missouri, but they have kept South Carolina in a few games that looked like they could be blowouts.
They held Kentucky and Vanderbilt scoreless in the second halves of both games. They gave up 12 points in the second half to Missouri, and 13 to Texas A&M.
Ultimately, the defense has allowed the Gamecocks to stay in every game, aside from the week 2 loss to Georgia.
Overall, for the first half of the season, the defense gets a grade of B+.
Special Teams
The special teams for South Carolina has been fairly decent during the first half of the season.
For the most part, you could not ask for more out of your kicker and punter. Parker White and Joseph Charlton have been outstanding for the Gamecocks.
Charlton ranks fourth in the SEC in punting average, and has booted seven punts inside of the 20 yard-line.
White is 8 out of 9 in field goals and has yet to miss an extra point.
The return game has been middle of the road. Bryan Edwards ranks 5th in the SEC in punt return average, while Deebo Samuel ranks 5th in kick return average. Both were areas that many expected to be better coming into the season.
While the kicking has been great, the return game has been so-so. For that reason, the special teams gets a grade of B- for the first half of the season.