Three and out: What we learned from Georgia

Old problems produced the same results in South Carolina's 28-14 loss to Georgia on Sunday afternoon at Williams-Brice Stadium

Same story, different game - South Carolina continues to do just enough to hang around in SEC games, but continues to make too many mistakes to win them. Once again, the Gamecocks - which I've said time and time again have a very small margin for error - shot themselves in the foot too many times to beat a team like Georgia. Early penalties kept the offense from getting going. Turnovers gave Georgia the ball in great field position. And punt return issues continue to plague the team.

That's a spot that I never would have highlighted as a major question mark prior to the season, but Carolina has had costly mistakes in the punt return game against Vanderbilt, Kentucky, Texas A&M and now Georgia. The lack of a fair catch on the punt that came after the defensive stop after Carolina cut the game to 14-7, cost the Gamecocks 28 yards of field position and set the sequence of events into motion that led to the Georgia touchdown that pretty much put the game away.

That came at a time in the game when Carolina finally had some momentum and the stadium was into the game. The worst part about Carolina's mistakes are that they seem to come at the worst times. They'll need to get the punt return portion of the game fixed moving forward. Deebo Samuel showed in Sunday's game that he needs to get the football more, if possible, so it may be time to give him another shot at punt returner. Samuel is a big play waiting to happen and showed why the staff has been so high on him this offseason.

ALSO SEE: Josh Low's instant analysis breaking down the USC loss to Georgia | Four-star linebacker sees opportunity with Gamecocks | Aftermath: Running game dooms Gamecocks

Running game issues continue to plague offense - South Carolina's lack of a consistent running game continues to hold back the entire offense as the Gamecocks' offensive line struggles to get a push up front.

Despite giving up five sacks in the game, I don't believe the pass protection has been nearly as bad as the run blocking as the offense continually finds itself in must-throw situations (due to the lack of running game) which allows defenders to pin their ears back and rush the passer.

With a non-dual-threat quarterback at the helm, there's a bit more pressure on the offensive line to open up holes for the running backs which then opens up more in the passing game. While it's been more of a blocking issue than a running back issue, the running backs had their share of mistakes too Sunday with two turnovers and a dropped swing pass that would have gone for big yardage.

South Carolina will get Donell Stanley back after the bye week, will have a fully healthy Blake Camper, and still has D.J. Park available on the sidelines as well. Now it needs to find the necessary combination to produce a more consistent rushing attack. That would open up the rest of the offense.

There's no easy quarterback answer - As the staff goes back and forth between Perry Orth and Brandon McIlwain, what's clear here is that there's no easy, obvious answer at the quarterback position.

Orth as a fifth-year senior has a better understanding of the offense, is more consistent in the throwing game, and seems to move the offense more often. But as a senior player, he's got limited upside and doesn't bring a running threat to the position which allows teams to sometimes stop Carolina's limited rushing attack, without devoting an extra defender to the box. McIlwain is the true freshman who could gain experience of next year, and gives an added run element, but the game is clearly still very fast for him and he probably wasn't ready to be thrown into the fire quite yet.

There is, of course, the question of whether South Carolina should burn the redshirt of freshman quarterback Jake Bentley. I could make a pretty compelling case for playing him and for redshirting him. But whether it's wise to play Bentley, just like the overall quarterback quandary, is a difficult question to answer.

ALSO SEE: The Insider Report - Recruiting notes from Chris Clark