SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS
South Carolina could all but watch as it saw the 11-point second half lead quickly slip through the Gamecocks’ grasp until it was North Carolina up 24-20 and firmly in the drivers seat.
But, as the clock inched closer to zero, the Gamecocks still had plenty of chances—four exactly—to retake the lead and all four times they ended up faltering.
“You can say it’s very frustrating, Tavien Feaster said. “We didn’t finish the way we wanted to. Week by week, game by game it’ll be different. We just have to learn from our mistakes on film.”
Also see: Full recap from Will Muschamp's postgame press conference
The Gamecocks, after falling behind with 8:26 left in the game, put together four drives and mustered just 23 yards and had two of those drives end in interceptions.
They’d get close, using a clutch Bryan Edwards punt return to put them at the Norht Carolina 37-yard line and had the first play of the drive go for 11 yards but Bentley fired incomplete on second down and threw an interception on third down, his first of two in the fourth quarter.
Bentley finished the final 15 minutes going 2-for-9 for 15 yards and two picks.
“I was just missing throws, especially late,” Bentley said. “We should have won the game three or four times. I just have to hit them.”
Also see: Instant analysis from Saturday's loss
This was, on paper, a team the Gamecocks should have beaten after spending the entire offseason talking about how deep this team was and how potent it could be offensively, but that didn’t come to fruition late.
“I know we’re better than that. That’s not the team we are,” Kyle Markway said. “We’re going to improve this week and come out better next week.”
They’d score just seven points the final 30 minutes of game time and put up 101 yards after halftime, wasting a handful of good opportunities late to avoid a season-opening loss.
“We’ll go back and look at it. Obviously when you get into loose down situations, they know we need a touchdown to win the game and they’re pinning their ears back up front. They’re pushing the pocket,” Will Muschamp said. “We’ll go back and evaluate it.”
Bentley struggled all game, finishing with 142 yards on 16 completions and potential All-SEC receiver Bryan Edwards ended his day offensively with just one catch for seven yards, which came on the first play from scrimmage.
After the game Muschamp said there will be a lot of re-evaluating before next week’s game against Charleston Southern.
“We need to go back and evaluate our team at all positions right now to see what we need to do to put your best foot forward,” he said.
