The 2020 season is officially underway, and with it comes the weekly report card evaluating anything and everything that happened in Saturday's game.
South Carolina lost a heartbreaker to Tennessee with a punt return miscue not giving the offense a chance to try and win the game late.
There were performances both good and bad in the loss, and GamecockCentral will try and grade all of it for you.
Quarterback: C
If this was just a first half grade, Collin Hill's grade wouldn't be this high. Hill's first half was stagnant after the first drive, finishing the half 12-for-19 and averaging 5.2 yards per pass with a pick-six and three of his first three sacks coming before the half.
But, to Hill's credit, he put it together in the second half and looked a lot better. The Gamecocks were clicking more offensively. In the second half he averaged 9.6 yards per attempt after halftime. The Gamecocks looked more explosive then, which helps bump his grade up in his Gamecock debut.
Also see: Instant analysis from the loss
Running backs: B-
This grade is more or less because no one back really stood out, and the Gamecocks weren't nearly as explosive as they needed to be in the run game. On the surface the numbers look OK for the backs after taking out sack yardage—31 attempts, averaging 4.5 yards per carry—but the Gamecocks only had three runs of 10 yards or more and no back had more than 55 yards rushing.
Deshaun Fenwick was also a pretty key piece of the passing game as well, catching four passes for 45 yards.
Wide receivers: C
The receivers who caught the ball had phenomenal days, but the issue with the receiver group is only two guys caught passes. Of Hill's 25 completions and 290 yards, Shi Smith and Xavier Legette combined for 14 completions and 201 yards with a handful of explosive plays.
Judging on those guys alone, the grade would be much higher but the other Gamecock receivers need to be more involved in the pass game for South Carolina to have success.
Tight ends: C-
Similar to the receivers, the Gamecocks had one workhorse but no one else involved in the pass game. Nick Muse caught four passes for 50 yards but no other tight ends had a catch.
Muse also had a crucial drop on a ball thrown a little high with the Gamecocks driving to tie the game, which brings the grade down a little. Muse did do really well in the blocking game for the most part.
Offensive line: C-
Like Hill, if this was a first half grade it would be much lower. The offensive line struggled in the first two quarters, allowing three sacks with the Gamecocks rushing for only 26 yards. They mixed and matched at right tackle before settling on Jakai Moore to finish the game and looked better in the second half.
Also see: Insider notes from today's baseball scrimmage
They protected Hill better—he had more time to connect on deeper passes—in the second half and the Gamecocks ran the ball a little better after half, too. In all, not the best outing, but could have been worse given the first half performance.
Defensive line: C
The line showed flashes of playing well, but Tennessee rattled off too many explosives in the run game, especially in the second half, which lowers the grade.
Despite some struggles in the run game, the line did a really good job of getting into the backfield, sacking Jarrett Guarantano twice, both coming from JJ Enagbare with three other players notching tackles for loss.
Linebackers: B-
Ernest Jones picked up right where he left off, picking up 11 tackles. They fit some things well, but were part of a front seven that allowed too many explosives in the run game.
Tackling did seem improved compared to last year, which is a positive sign.
Secondary: D
A strength of this team entering the season, the secondary struggled against Guarantano, giving up 8.4 yards per completion and giving up a number of explosive plays. Two of the biggest plays given up were on Tennessee's go-ahead drive, a 33-yard catch and run on a corner blitz before Guarantano connected with a receiver for 32 yards for the eventual game-winning touchdown.
With Mukuamu's status still unclear with a groin injury, the Gamecocks will need to figure things out on the back end before Florida.
Special teams: D
A lot will be made of the final play, which is more of an unfortunate bounce hitting a receiver trying to block, but special teams struggled most of the night.
The Gamecocks gave up a long punt return to Eric Gray and Jammie Robinson put the Gamecocks inside the 10-yard line after fair-catching a punt instead of letting it go.
Freshman Kai Kroeger was OK in his debut, averaging 35.2 yards on six punts. The biggest bright spot was Parker White, who was a perfect 2-for-2 on field goals with a 45-yarder.
Coaching: D+
Mike Bobo's offensive play calling wasn't bad at all, and the Gamecocks looked markedly improved in the second half, thanks to (first off) better offensive line play, but the play calling throughout was creative and he did a good job mixing and matching personnel and formations. This is why the coaching grade is as high as it is.
The problem lies with some of the decisions later in the game with Will Muschamp opting to kick a field goal down seven and keeping a one score game into a one score game without the guarantee of getting the ball back.
South Carolina also waited too long on a close third and short call where they waited 30 seconds to bring the punt team on as they decided whether to review the play or not. Also, since it was fourth and short, the Gamecocks could have gone for it but an illegal substitution nixed that idea.
Muschamp also called a timeout early on Tennessee's final full drive, admitting afterwards it was a mistake.
