South Carolina football: Gamecocks’ strengths need improvement
By Jacob Elsey
The South Carolina football team must improve in key areas before next Saturday.
The Gamecocks dropped their season opener by a score of 31-27 Saturday night to the Tennessee Volunteers. South Carolina took an early lead on its opening drive, but the Vols would grab a 14-7 lead in the second quarter following a Henry To’o To’o pick six, and they’d not trail for the remainder of the game.
The Gamecocks continued to battle back from a two-score second half deficit, eventually tying the game up at 24 a piece in the fourth quarter. Tennessee would regain the lead with a touchdown pass from Jarrett Guaranano, going up 31-24, but a Parker White field goal would cut the lead to four around four-minute mark.
After a defensive stop from the Gamecocks, it looked as though the offense would have a chance to drive for the winning score, but a Tennessee punt was misplayed by the South Carolina special teams unit, resulting in a Volunteer recovery and the end of the game.
In an evenly matched game, the South Carolina football team’s strengths abandoned them on field Saturday night.
Going into this matchup, there were two areas where the Gamecocks felt they’d have an advantage over the Vols. Those were at offensive line and in the secondary.
Tennessee lost a ton of talent from its front seven last year, while South Carolina returned four starters across the offensive line. It was expected that big bodies Sadarius Hutcherson and Dylan Wonnum could move the Tennessee defensive front around to create holes for Gamecock running backs and provide time for quarterback Collin Hill.
That, unfortunately, was not the case. South Carolina’s running backs carried the ball 26 times for a total of just 105 yards. Kevin Harris led the way with 55 rushing yards, but half of those came on the Gamecocks’ opening touchdown drive.
With the running game not working and the Gamecocks trailing in the second half, offensive coordinator Mike Bobo tried to air it out a little bit. Though his quarterback threw for nearly 300 yards on the day, the Volunteer defense applied constant pressure, resulting in four Tennessee sacks. Many of those sacks were drive killers, costing the Gamecocks chances at points.
Hill was also pressured heavily on his second quarter interception, which Tennessee returned for a score.
On defense, the Gamecock secondary came in with tons of hype. Israel Mukuamu, Jaycee Horn, and Jammie Robinson were expected to shut down a Tennessee wideout group that lost its top two options from 2019.
Instead, the Vols threw for 259 yards, connecting on long passing plays of 30 or more yards on three occasions. Tennessee averaged over 13 yards a catch, and the Gamecock secondary was unable to force any Volunteer turnovers.
Freshman cornerback Cam Smith was picked on a bit, being the victim of the Vols’ go-ahead touchdown pass in the game’s final period, a 32-yard score by Josh Palmer. Smith seemed lost on a couple of big plays, missing key tackles and allowing the Vols to extend drives. He was also the player that touched the fourth quarter Tennessee punt, sealing the Gamecock loss.
Both of these groups will need to improve quickly as the Gamecocks prepare for a Saturday afternoon matchup with the fifth-ranked Florida Gators next weekend. The secondary, in particular, will have its hands full with Gator quarterback Kyle Trask, who threw six touchdowns in his season opener against Ole Miss.