South Carolina football: five takeaways from the season opener
By Jacob Elsey
Five takeaways from the South Carolina football team’s season opening loss.
South Carolina dropped a close one to Tennessee on Saturday night, 31-27. The loss was certainly disheartening to the Gamecock program as they looked to start the 2020 season off on the right foot. Instead, they’ll now travel into a week two contest against No. 3 Florida having lost six of their last seven games dating back to the 2019 campaign.
As is the case with most games, there were positives and negatives to take away from the Gamecocks’ season opener. Let’s go through the good and bad from Saturday night’s defeat.
1. The offense has improved.
South Carolina’s offense in 2019 was abysmal, finishing 104th nationally in scoring by averaging just over 20 points a game. The unit continued to decline as the season wore on, as the group scored just one touchdown over its final three games of the year.
Fast forward to the 2020 season, and the offense actually provided a spark under new play caller Mike Bobo and quarterback Collin Hill. Hill threw for 290 yards in his first game under center in Columbia, and the Carolina receiving corps played well throughout the contest.
Offensive line play needs to improve, but overall, this was a step in the right direction for the Gamecocks.