Report card from South Carolina football's disappointing loss to LSU Tigers

South Carolina Gamecocks vs. LSU Tigers. Grading the quarterback play in this game was tough. Not only did LaNorris Sellers only play about a half of football, but both he and backup Robby Ashford had some good moments and some that they won't like to look at in the film room. Sellers' best play was his 75-yard touchdown run, and he had some solid moments passing, but he also threw an interception and lost a fumble on a play in which he should have gotten rid of the football. Ashford wasn't given many opportunities to throw the ball, and he also fumbled the ball away on a strip sack. Ashford boosts the grade a little for his late-game effort to get the Gamecocks into position to try to score, but he missed a pretty simple throw that would have made the last-second field goal try much shorter. Sellers' injury and some questionable play-calling decisions didn't help the quarterback situation in this game, either.. QUARTERBACK. QUARTERBACK. B-

South Carolina Gamecocks vs. LSU Tigers. This grade almost should have just Rocket Sanders' name by it as Oscar Adaway's 1-yard carry was the only offensive touch for a running back not named Sanders. The Arkansas transfer had a huge performance, gaining 154 yards on 20 touches. The only knock on his performance was a subpar blitz pickup late in the game in which his man made a play that resulted in a strip sack against Robby Ashford. . RUNNING BACK. RUNNING BACK. A-

The South Carolina receiver room still hasn't played its best football, but Saturday's performance against LSU was the receiver room's best of the 2024 season. There were no egregious drops in the game (though, Jared Brown had a chance for a touchdown grab through contact), and several players made some things happen with tough catches and/or nice runs after the catch. The blocking seemed to be improved on Saturday, as well, and Gage Larvadain was a key part of Rocket Sanders' 66-yard touchdown. However, Mike Furrey's unit still needs to get open more to help the offense move the ball down the field when teams stack the box against the run.. WIDE RECEIVER. WIDE RECEIVER. B-. South Carolina Gamecocks vs. LSU Tigers

TIGHT ENDS. TIGHT ENDS. C+. South Carolina Gamecocks vs. LSU Tigers. South Carolina tight ends didn't have as many targets in week 3 as they had the previous two games (just 3 catches, all by Josh Simon), but it wasn't a bad performance from the unit. Simon had a couple of nice YAC plays, and all three of the team's main tight ends (Simon, Brady Hunt, and Michael Smith) had some good moments as blockers. Unfortunately, the blocking was a bit inconsistent on the outside, and Simon fumbled again. With the Gamecocks' lack of size at the receiver position, the tight ends have to be a big part of the passing game, and they weren't on Saturday. Some of that was on play-calling, some of it was one the quarterback play, and some of that was on the tight ends, themselves. This group is far too good to keep having average performances, though, so South Carolina football fans can expect some solid work next time out.

Saturday was the best performance of the young season for the Gamecock offensive line. Sure, there were some moments that weren't great, especially in pass protection as USC quarterbacks LaNorris Sellers and Robby Ashford were sacked 5 times. However, the big uglies had some stout moments in the run game and gave Sellers and Ashford more time than one might expect for a team that gave up 5 sacks. At least 1 of the 5 sacks came due to a missed blitz pickup in the backfield, and another came about thanks to the quarterback holding the ball too long. On Rocket Sanders' 66-yard touchdown run, left tackle Josiah Thompson blocked two men as he shoved one defender toward the interior of the line, and as Sanders bounced ran around the left side of the line, Thompson got just enough of his big paws on another defender to keep him from making the stop. On the opening scoring drive, the right side of the line just mauled the LSU defensive front on multiple plays en route to a LaNorris Sellers score. With another step forward, Lonnie Teasley's group will be talking about a good performance up front, not just an adequate one.. OFFENSIVE LINE. OFFENSIVE LINE. B-. South Carolina Gamecocks vs. LSU Tigers