Grading the Gamecocks: Missouri

I struggled with this one a little because it was evident Ryan Hilinski was banged up, but even with that he didn't look good for the majority of the game and struggled with accuracy on short and intermediate throws.

The Gamecocks' freshman finished going 13-for-30 with 166 yards through the air, 75 of which came on one play, a 75-yard screen pass to Bryan Edwards. He'd throw a crippling interception on the three yard line going in and have another freshman mistake trying to bat down a ball that turned into a fumble and a Missouri touchdown.

We'll never know how much the elbow truly affected his performance, but this was by far the bumpiest start in Hilinski's short career. Dakereon Joyner did some good things late in Saturday’s game but struggled early on when he took snaps behind center.

Also see: Everything Will Muschamp said after the game

Running backs: D

This was arguably the hardest position to grade since the Gamecock offensive line played as bad as it did. Any time a team rushes for 16 yards, it’s not good and the grade should probably reflect that. The Gamecocks struggled to get anything going up front, giving Rico Dowdle and Tavien Feaster a combined 14 carries, averaging less than a yard per attempt.

Dowdle, who scored a one-yard touchdown run Saturday, is also credited with a fumble on the Gamecocks’ third drive of the second half.

Receivers/tight ends: B-

Given the fact South Carolina’s quarterbacks struggled, this group actually played pretty well. Bryan Edwards finished with his second 100-yard game of the season, which included a grown-man touchdown catch and run to start the second half.

Kyle Markway looked good along with Shi Smith, each hauling in three passes. There just wasn’t a lot to work with when the quarterbacks and offensive line struggled like it did.

Offensive line: F

They gave up four sacks and the Gamecocks rushed for 16 yards. It’s hard to not give this group an F for this game, probably the worst this unit’s looked all season. They struggled to pick up Missouri’s pressures all game, saying it was due to lack of execution and they prepared for exotic blitzes all week long.

It’s hard for an offense to do anything if the five guys up front struggle as mightily as they did Saturday.

Also see: Insider notes from South Carolina's first baseball scrimmage this fall

Defensive line: B-

This group’s been playing well the last three games, and they did it again Saturday. They sacked Kelly Bryant twice and limited a potent Missouri rushing attack to just 3.6 yards a carry. The stats look a little more skewed than they probably are since Missouri ran almost 90 plays, but it’s a group that was pretty solid.

Zacch Pickens had two tackles and J.J. Enagbare had a sack as part of a goal line stand, Aaron Sterling forced a fumble Javon Kinlaw recovered and D.J. Wonnum had a near pick-six, returning an interception to the one-yard line to set up a Rico Dowdle touchdown run.

The only knocks are losing contain a few times on Bryant, but overall it was a good game for the guys up front.

Linebackers: C

This group also played surprisingly well with a few slip-ups Saturday. Ernest Jones continues his fast-tracked development with 7.5 tackles and TJ Brunson tacked on another 10.5 to lead all defenders yesterday.

Sherrod Green also had a few good plays at the SAM spot when the Gamecocks were in their base 4-3 defense. Brunson was called for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, they did contribute to a few big runs by Bryant and let tight end Albert Okwuegbunam escape for a touchdown, which bring the grade down a little.

Secondary: C-

Tackling is still a problem at times back there but it looks like some of the changes on the back end worked to a degree. They had some good coverage on Missouri’s receivers; Kelly Bryant’s longest pass of the day was just 22 yards and the Tiger quarterback averaged just 6.9 yards per attempt.

They did give up two big third downs on a momentum-killing drive with Roderick missing a key tackle on third down and J.T. Ibe getting blocked out of a screen pass that ultimately went for a touchdown.

Special teams: B-

Joseph Charlton brings this grade up quite a bit here. He punted eight times and averaged 53.4 yards per punt, downing three inside the 20-yard line with a long of 63. All of Will Tommie’s three kickoffs went for touchbacks and the Gamecocks allowed just one big return, a 25-yarder to Richaud Floyd.

Parker White was put out there to kick a 50-yard field goal he missed.

Also see: Instant analysis from Saturday's loss

Coaching: D-

This is where things start to get a little hairy. Muschamp said the Gamecocks’ game plan was to establish the run and try to take deep shots off of a good run game, but the Gamecocks came out and threw on five of their first eight plays, including four times back up inside their own 10-yard line.

Playing with a banged up elbow, Hilinski threw 15 times in the first half compared to 13 rushes. They’d try and get a little cute sometimes offensively and most of the time it didn’t pay off. They run a lot of RPOs (Hilinski’s interception at the three was one) and Muschamp said after the game they might have to go back and see how they’re coaching it and if they need to start telling their players to read different keys off of it.