Key plays, game balls, and the burning question following South Carolina’s 45-20 loss at Tennessee.

Three Key Plays

1. Jordan Burch’s interception (thrown)

South Carolina had first and goal from the one. Instead of simply trying to go straight forward, the Gamecocks got cute. On first down they called a quarterback keeper for Dakereon Joyner. Then on second down they called a pass for defensive end Jordan Burch. The pass was woefully underthrown and picked off by Jaylen McCollough. Shane Beamer said they practiced the play all week and knew they wanted to use it when they got near the goal line. It sure didn’t look like a well-rehearsed play. Instead of a 14-7 game, Tennessee scored on the ensuing drive to make it 21-0.

2. Fumbled snap

On South Carolina’s next offensive play, Luke Doty was under center but fumbled the snap. Tennessee recovered at the Gamecock 24 and scored three plays later. The touchdown made it 28-0 and the game was essentially over with 12 seconds left in the first quarter.

3. Fake punt

The disaster of the first trick play didn’t stop Beamer from pulling out another one. This worked much better. Facing fourth and nine from the Tennessee 44, punter Kai Kroeger lobbed a nice-looking pass to a wide-open Payton Mangrum, one of the gunners. Mangrum, a walk-on wide receiver from Greenville, was initially ruled out at the two, but replay changed it to a touchdown, his first career recorded stat.

Two Game Balls

Jaylan Foster

Foster had 13 tackles, with two tackles for a loss and a sack. When South Carolina briefly made the game interesting in the second half, Foster was flying around the field, making plays.

Kai Kroeger

Kroeger averaged 45.6 yards on five punts and finished the game with a 799.6 passer rating.

One Burning Question

What was that?

Was South Carolina really as bad as it looked in the first quarter or was it momentum and bad luck? Did South Carolina’s defense really step up in the second half or was it just Tennessee relaxing too soon? I’ve been trying to think of something we can take from that game, but nothing seems clear. Perhaps the only positive is that last season the team would have given up at halftime and the score would have been more like 59-16 (you know Muschamp would have gone field goal crazy in the second half).