South Carolina Football: Report card vs. Mississippi State
By Kevin Miller
Shane Beamer’s South Carolina football team needed a win on Saturday against the Mississippi State Bulldogs, and they got it. The Gamecocks brought their record back to .500 at 2-2 after beating Zach Arnett’s program in a matchup that was dangerously close to a “must-win.”
The matchup was very competitive, but Mississippi State never held an outright lead. The close game was extremely entertaining and never felt as if the score was out of reach.
Here are the grades for South Carolina football’s win over the Mississippi State Bulldogs:
. South Carolina Gamecocks. FANS . A. The Gamecock Faithful were great on Saturday. Williams-Brice Stadium was rocking as it was the second sell-out in two home games. The crowd made sure to let the officials know of their displeasure with a couple of poor calls, and they (loudly) cheered the Gamecocks on to victory. The only knock on the fans was that it appeared a good chunk of students left the stadium when the Gamecocks went up by 10 in the 4th quarter.
COACHING . B-. For the most part, the South Carolina football staff had a good day on Saturday. Dowell Loggains called a pretty good offensive game (though he was too committed to the run at times), and Shane Beamer seemingly had his team motivated. On the negative side of things, defensive coordinator Clayton White took too long to make a couple of adjustments with his unit, and Pete Lembo’s group missed on their only fake attempt, an oddly-timed 2-point conversion try.. . South Carolina Gamecocks
The South Carolina special teams unit still has not matched their 2022 production. Arguably the nation’s top overall unit last season, the Gamecocks’ special teams groups have been remarkably average in 2023. Kai Kroeger had his best punt of the year against Mississippi State but also had a couple of short kicks. Mitch Jeter had a kickoff sail out of bounds, and a fake extra point/two-point conversion try failed due to poor execution on the throw from Kroeger. Pete Lembo’s coverage units had some good stops, and Eddie Lewis had a solid punt return, as well.. . South Carolina Gamecocks. SPECIAL TEAMS. C+