South Carolina Football: North Carolina game report card

A. Spencer Rattler did his best Superman impression on Saturday. Despite having no time to throw and getting no support from the run game, he was a little better than Heisman Trophy candidate Drake Maye. Rattler finished the game 30/39 for 353 yards and would have had about 50 yards rushing if not for being sacked a whopping 9 times on the night.<br /> The only thing keeping Rattler from an A+ was an intentional grounding penalty and holding the ball too long on one of his sacks.. . South Carolina Gamecocks. QUARTERBACK PLAY

RUNNING BACKS. C. The Gamecock running backs are difficult to grade in this one. In one sense, they didn’t have much of a chance due to the struggles of the offensive line. However, when they did have an opportunity for a positive run, running lanes were not hit.<br /> Both DK Joyner and Juju McDowell had good moments in the passing game, combining for 8 catches and 44 yards.. . South Carolina Gamecocks

If this were just about Xavier Legette, an A+ would be in order. #17 had his best game ever, going for 9 catches and 178 yards despite playing over half of the game banged up.<br /> Ahmarean Brown had a pretty good game, but an ugly drop on 4th down stifled USC’s momentum after a successful onside kick.<br /> Backup quarterback Luke Doty had three catches and looked pretty good.<br /> The tight ends were not much of a factor as Josh Simon got most of his work on the game’s final drive and Trey Knox had two catches.. . South Carolina Gamecocks. PASS CATCHERS. B+

South Carolina Gamecocks. OFFENSIVE LINE. F. There is no need to sugarcoat this one. The offensive line surrendered 9 sacks and didn’t allow the running game enough room to finish the contest with positive yards. This is a unit with some good players, but they were far from good on Saturday..