SOUTH CAROLINA FOOTBALL

There were a lot of reasons to feel good after Saturday’s win, but still a few areas for concern. We break down what happened and look ahead to next week.

THREE UP

1. Ryan Hilinski

Hilinski was fantastic in his first start. The numbers were good: 24-30 for 282 yards and two touchdowns (plus a rushing touchdown), but he was even better than those numbers. Bryan McClendon called a bunch of short, easy passes to start the game, but Hilinski still had to execute, and he did. He completed his first 12 passes, making all the right reads and finding his checkdowns when the first read wasn’t there. He spread the ball around, connecting with nine different receivers. McClendon opened up the playbook after the first few drives, went up-tempo at Hilinski’s request, and Hilinski didn’t miss a beat. After he underthrew Bryan Edwards just a little for his first incompletion, he responded a few plays later with a 60-yard touchdown strike to Edwards. The other touchdown was almost as pretty: a strike to Edwards on a slant. It wasn’t the most difficult pass to make, but Hilinski still had to make it.

“I’m not going to sit here and say that we’re spoon-feeding him,” Will Muschamp said. “The guy can handle what we’re doing. The guy’s extremely bright. He’s been here through spring. He’s been through an entire installation in the summer. He went through training camp.”

True, it was only Charleston Southern. But Hilinski still had to make the reads and make the throws. Of his 30 pass attempts, there were really only three that he didn’t make: the aforementioned incompletion to Edwards, an overthrow to Shi Smith on what would have been a touchdown, and the interception on his final snap, when he threw the ball up for grabs in the middle of the field. That’s pretty good ratio.

“I know what he can do,” Dakereon Joyner said. “The rest of the world didn’t know what he could do, but now y’all know.”

2. The offense

True, it was only Charleston Southern. But South Carolina has been playing football since 1892. There have been over 1,200 games. Opponents have included Coastal Carolina, Western Carolina, Detroit, Pacific, and something called Welsh Neck, and none of them ever surrendered as many yards as Charleston Southern did.

Let’s run through the numbers: The Gamecocks had 775 yards of total offense (most in school history, fifth in SEC history), 72 points (fifth-most in school history, 23rd-most in SEC history), 493 yards rushing (most in school history), and averaged 11.2 yards per play (eighth best in SEC history).

You also have to take into account just how inept the offense looked a week earlier. South Carolina had just 270 yards of offense against North Carolina (for those scoring at home that’s 505 yard less), and averaged just 4.4 yards per play. The playcalling last week seemed to alternate between predictable and ill-advised. This week the playcalling was strong, if not flashy. McClendon eased Hilinski into the game, and once he was comfortable McClendon let him loose. South Carolina didn’t have to overwhelm Charleston Southern with fancy misdirection, and McClendon kept things simple but not predictable, and more importantly got the ball to South Carolina’s best players. Edwards bounced back from his one catch against North Carolina with five catches, a run, and two touchdowns. Edwards, Shi Smith, and running backs Rico Dowdle and Tavien Feaster got the ball with a chance to make plays.

“Those guys have got to touch it,” Muschamp said. “Those guys can score with the football in their hands.”

Execution is important too. The players didn’t just show up expecting to win. They played hard, were where they were supposed to be, and played to win. Look at Kevin Harris. He got his chance and he was ready. He ran hard and turned good plays into great plays instead of being content to play out the string.

3. The uniforms

True, it was only against Charleston Southern, but they looked good. Everyone seemed to like them. I prefer the garnet helmets without the white circle around the block c, or with the script Carolina, but the jerseys looked great. It’s amazing what a few traditional stripes (in this case, Northwestern stripes) can do when you get rid of all those weird little curves that can only be seen up close (also get off my lawn). Best of all, the big white numbers were easy to read for fans in the stadium, and the mesh pattern looks great up close.

THREE DOWN

1. Tackling

As good as the offensive performance was, Muschamp seemed frustrated by the defense in his postgame press conference. True, it was only Charleston Southern, and the tackling wasn’t nearly as bad as it was against North Carolina, but there were some notable missed tackles and bad angles. Almost all of Charleston Southern’s chunk plays included a missed tackle.

“We should have stopped the run (better),” Muschamp said. “We got decent pressure and we were able to play some young guys. That’s what I took away.”

2. Freshman defensive players

A bunch of freshmen got playing time on defense in the second half, and it was a very mixed bag. John Dixon got his first interception, but a lot of those missed tackles were from freshmen. Cam Smith led South Carolina with six tackles, but that isn’t a stat you want from a cornerback, and he got beat on a pair of late passes for Charleston Southern’s only touchdown. It’s nit-picking, and entirely possible that these freshmen are headed for a redshirt year, but it’s tough to find a lot of negatives in a 72-10 win, although true, it was only Charleston Southern,

3. Alabama is next

A week ago this time, it was almost impossible to find any good vibes related to Gamecock football. Today, although true, it was only Charleston Southern, there is optimism. But how long will it last? In baseball they say momentum is only as good as tomorrow’s starting pitcher. Up next is an ace.

Alabama is a little bit more of a challenge than Charleston Southern. Alabama is about the worst opponent to have to build momentum against, but that is what South Carolina is facing. Even the most optimistic Gamecock fan isn’t counting on an upset. South Carolina just needs to be competitive. It just needs to avoid another disaster like the North Carolina game and maybe it can build on Saturday.