Aftermath: Bentley, young offensive stars prove they're growing up quickly
South Carolina true freshman quarterback Jake Bentley grew up in front of 78,696 fans at Williams-Brice Stadium and a national television ESPN2 audience on Saturday night.
Outplaying Tennessee senior quarterback Joshua Dobbs, Bentley completed 15-of-20 passes for 167 yards and two touchdowns in the Gamecocks’ hard-fought 24-21 victory that put USC squarely on the road towards a coveted bowl berth.
“He was accurate with the ball,” Muschamp said. “He threw into some tight coverages and our guys made some plays too, so you have to give those guys credit. In that environment, it says a lot about him and his preparation and what he puts into it.”
Bentley was sacked six times by Tennessee and harassed on several other throws (Tennessee had four QB hurries), but he shook off the mediocre pass protection to pull off the Gamecocks’ biggest win of the season.
“That’s just Jake,” tight end K.C. Crosby said. “Even when the game got close, he kept his composure. He kept telling us that we were still in the game, we needed to finish strong and do what we had to do to get the win.”
Is Bentley physically and mentally tough? Yeah, I think so.
“Jake is a real tough guy,” Deebo Samuel said after the game. “He played his heart out, and he gave it his all out there.”
Between Bentley, true freshman running back Rico Dowdle (127 rushing yards on 27 carries; season highs in both categories) and true freshman wide receiver Bryan Edwards (4 receptions for 41 yards. 1 TD), the future is now for the Gamecocks.
Arguably, three of the Gamecocks’ top four offensive players with November beckoning on the schedule are true freshmen – Bentley, Dowdle and Edwards – along with sophomore wide receiver Samuel.
However, if you think Muschamp cuts them some slack because they are true freshmen, you’re wrong.
“When we put them on the field we expect them to play at a high level,” Muschamp said. “In order to win in our league, you have to (do that). Only on Sunday as we’re having dinner do we say, ‘You know what, these guys are just freshmen. On game day and in our preparation and meetings, that’s not an excuse. It is what it is. That’s the situation we’re in. But I’m glad I’ve got the guys we have.”
Yet, the sentiment from Gamecock players after the win was unmistakable – we’re going for it now, not waiting until next year when all the young stars have valuable experience under their belt.
“I’m very excited, but we are still going to worry about this year before we worry about the future,” Samuel said. “The future is bright for us.”
Only one of the aforementioned true freshman trio (Edwards) was a contributor in September as Dowdle debuted against Texas A&M on Oct. 1 and Bentley had his redshirt burned for the UMass game last weekend.
Dowdle had a rushing touchdown for the third straight game and eclipsed the century mark for the first time in his young career with style on a 40-yard run in the third quarter when he literally faked a Tennessee defender off his feet.
For the season, Dowdle has 291 yards rushing on 59 carries. His 27 rushing attempts were the most by any Gamecock running back since Kenny Miles had the same number of carries against Wofford in 2012.
Edwards, meanwhile, combined with Bentley on a perfectly executed a 17-yard catch-and-run touchdown early in the second quarter. Edwards has 27 receptions for 341 yards and two touchdowns, staying on track for a 40-reception season.
Muschamp recognizes the future is now mantra is meaningless until you win games.
“You have to have some results, eventually,” Muschamp said. “You can’t keep telling a guy to just keep working. Practicing for two hours and meeting every day is not a lot of fun. You have to have some results to feel the gratification and justify why we’re working so hard. We do it for this feeling right now after we win.”
NOTES
-- The Gamecocks snapped a seven-game losing streak to ranked opponents. USC’s last win over a Top 25 team came Sept. 13, 2014, against Georgia at Williams-Brice.
-- Will Muschamp improved to 5-0 against Tennessee as a head coach. He was 4-0 vs. the Vols at Florida.
-- Saturday’s three-point win for the Gamecocks snapped their three-game losing streak to Tennessee, and continued the trend of close games between the two programs. The last five games between the Gamecocks and Vols have been decided by a total of 14 points. All five games came down to the last possession as the team with the ball had a chance to win or tie the game.
-- Crosby’s 35-yard TD reception in the fourth quarter was the longest of the sophomore tight end’s career. His previous long had been 28 yards vs. Texas A&M.
-- Finally healthy, Samuel has 16 receptions for 191 yards in the last two games.
-- The Gamecocks held a commanding advantage in time of possession, holding the ball for nearly 36 minutes (35:54) compared to 24:06 for Tennessee. In the second half, the Gamecocks ran 42 plays to just 26 for Tennessee and held the ball for 21:44.
-- Tennessee was 0-for-3 on third downs in the second half after going 5-of-11 in the first half. The Gamecocks had opposite numbers on third down: 0-5 in the first half and 5-11 in the second.
-- Jamarcus King intercepted a pair of Dobbs passes to give him three picks for the season, tying him with Chris Lammons for the team lead. The athletic King’s second interception of the night came with 3:42 left when he leaped in front of a Vols receiver running down the middle of the field.
-- The Gamecocks won the turnover battle by a convincing 3-0 margin. Two of the Vols turnovers came in the crucial fourth quarter. After eight games, USC has a turnover margin of plus-6 with 17 takeaways (10 INTs, 7 fumbles) and 11 giveaways (3-8). “The biggest thing we have done this year except for the Georgia game is take care of the football,” Muschamp said. “We haven’t had a lot of turnovers and we haven’t put the ball in jeopardy much. That has been pleasing.”
-- Linebacker Jonathan Walton recorded his first sack of the season, and his second career sack. Defensively, USC collected two sacks, 2 QB pressures and four tackles for loss.
-- Safety D.J. Smith was ejected for targeting in the second half and must sit out the first half of next Saturday’s 4 p.m. home game vs. Missouri.
-- Placekicker Elliott Fry compiled six points in Saturday night’s game (1 FG, 3 PAT) to give him 329 career points, one shy of the school record of 330 points held by Colin Mackie.
SEC WEEK 9 RESULTS (Sat. Oct. 29)
Kentucky 35, Missouri 21
Florida 24, Georgia 10
Mississippi State 56, Samford 41
South Carolina 24, Tennessee 21
Auburn 40, Ole Miss 29
Texas A&M 52, New Mexico State 10
SEC EAST STANDINGS (After Week 9)
Florida 4-1 (6-1)
Kentucky 4-2 (5-3)
Tennessee 2-3 (5-3)
South Carolina 2-4 (4-4)
Georgia 2-4 (4-4)
Vanderbilt 1-3 (4-4)
Missouri 0-4 (2-6)
