SOUTH CAROLINA FOOTBALL

Gamecock Central breaks down what went right and what went wrong against Missouri.

Three Up

1. The Defensive Line

This one is easy. Led by Javon Kinlaw, with big assists from Aaron Sterling and Kingsley Enagbare, South Carolina controlled the line of scrimmage. The defensive line drew three accepted holding penalties on Missouri, plus another two that were declined. Once again, Kinlaw was a force inside. He followed up his eye-catching performance against Alabama with another dominant game (four tackles, a sack, a fumble recovery, a pass broken up, and a quarterback hurry), and his decision to return for his senior season looks like it is going to make him a lot of money in the NFL Draft.

But Kinlaw didn’t do it alone, and that was about the only thing that kept South Carolina from being blown out. Sterling had five tackles with two for a loss, a sack (on which he and Kinlaw met at Kelly Bryant), and a forced fumble. Enagbare added six tackles with two for a loss, including a crucial fourth down tackle on Bryant to cap the first quarter goal line stand.

Speaking of the goal line stand, true freshman Zacch Pickens made it possible. He stuffed Missouri running backs for no gain on first and third down. The third down stop was particularly impressive, as he met a diving Larry Rountree, a powerful runner, and stoned him in the middle of the line. D.J. Wonnum was mostly quiet Saturday, but he did intercept a pass to set up South Carolina’s first touchdown.

2. Bryan Edwards

Like Kinlaw, Bryan Edwards opted to return for his senior season. And like Kinlaw, Edwards is making a lot of money for himself. Edwards was overshadowed the past three years by Deebo Samuel. Samuel made the explosive plays and dominated highlights while Edwards was seen as more of a possession receiver. It didn’t help that, for whatever reason, Edwards and Jake Bentley seemed like they were often not quite on the same page: it seemed like paases were often just a little off target, preventing an easy catch and a chance to do something after the catch (or the North Carolina game when Edwards was all but forgotten).

The coaching staff probably recognized Edwards’ explosive potential before a lot of people and assigned him punt return duties. And credit them this season with understanding the need (at least since the North Carolina game) to force the ball to Edwards. And then credit Edwards for taking advantage of his opportunities. Screens and fly sweeps may not (normally) be sexy plays, but with Edwards they have been extremely effective, while he has demonstrated enough of a deep threat to stop defenses from crowding him.

3. Quarterback resiliency

Now it gets harder to find something positive. This is more like a silver lining. Ryn Hilinski’s first half couldn’t have been much worse. He went 4-15 for three yards and he repeatedly missed open receivers, and one of those completions was to himself, which led to a fumble and touchdown. We can’t really know what caused the poor play: it could have been nerves from his first road start, the sore elbow, the practice he missed do to the elbow, or some combination of all three.

The silver lining is that Hilinski kept his head up and was much better in the second half. He did throw the pick six in the end zone that essentially clinched the game for Missouri, but Hilinski was much sharper, especially on the drive leading up to the interception, when he looked like the Hilinski of the last two weeks. He went 9-15 for 163 yards (and had a 41-yard pass called back on a questionable offensive pass interference penalty), and rediscovered the rhythm he has developed with Bryan Edwards and Kyle Markway.

Dakereon Joyner took over for the final offensive series, and got valuable experience. Joyner only got a couple of snaps at quarterback in the first half, and both lost yardage. Joyner often looks like he is trying to turn every play into a touchdown, but on that final drive he looked more patient and took what Missouri gave him. The drive didn’t result in points, but it came close. Joyner overthrew and open OrTre Smith by mere inches in the end zone, and later he scrambled and improvised, flipping the ball to Markway, who would have had a touchdown grab if he hadn’t tripped and fallen.

Three Down

1. Red zone offense

New week, same story. The Gamecocks continue to flounder in the red zone. In the first quarter a turnover set them up with the ball at the Tigers’ 23. On first down they lost three yards. On second down they lost six. On third down they threw an incomplete pass. On fourth down they had no choice but to send out Parker White for a career-long 50-yard field goal attempt. Predictably, he missed. Later, of course, came the pick six, off a slant where Hilinski didn’t see the underneath coverage. And in the fourth quarter the Gamecocks had a first and goal from the seven, but failed to score. This is oversimplifying things, but that’s potentially another 21 points in a 20-point loss.

Last week we suggested that perhaps South Carolina should use Joyner more in the red zone. Well, they tried. After the fumble, Joyner was called on for a zone read, and then was sacked on what looked like was supposed to be a screen. Joyner also led the fourth quarter drive that stalled.

2. The rest of the offense

It was just a dud, let’s face it. The playcalling was okay, but didn’t seem to account for just how off-target Hilinski was early. The run game never got going, but Rico Dowdle and Tavien Feaster combined for only 14 carries, so they didn’t have much of a chance. For the game, South Carolina rushed for just 16 yards (including 29 yards lost on sacks), the lowest output since 2003. The offensive line, which was so strong a week ago, gave up way too many hits on the quarterbacks while not opening holes for runners, although four sacks on 41 pass attempts isn’t terrible.

Offensively, South Carolina also hung its defense out to dry. The inability to stay on the field offensively led to a defense that wore down noticeably as the game progressed. South Carolina ran just 28 plays in the first half and had seven three and outs. South Carolina had just four drives of more than three plays, and just two of more than five. Only three drives took longer than two minutes. Missouri had the ball for 37:50, while South Carolina had it for just 22:10.

It was a total team effort.

3. “Dad, do you know what Schadenfreude is?”

Gamecock fans are in a pretty sour mood this morning, but they can at least take shameful joy in the suffering of other teams. It seems like there is less parity than ever in college football, or at least more excruciating losses than ever. To wit: Ole Miss got burned by the same refusal to review a goal line spot at the end of the half as South Carolina (although the officials were from the Pas-12), except that theirs was at the end of a one-score game. Washington State’s Anthony Gordon threw nine touchdown passes… and lost. All FCS Central Connecticut (you know them as the other Blue Devils on your March Madness bracket) had to do was punt the ball to beat FBS Eastern Michigan, but it was blocked for a game-winning touchdown. Arkansas lost to San Jose State (4-23 since 2017). Tennessee had more turnovers (four) than points (three). Michigan is paying a supposed savior of smash-mouth football and quarterback guru $7 million a year to coach a team that, in his fifth season, still can’t run, or block, or pass, or tackle, or hold on to the football (all three of Michigan’s opening possessions this season have resulted in turnovers). So it could be worse.

Plus there is this, for which I have no words:

At least that one had a happy ending:

So maybe things will get better for the Gamecocks too. After all, there are chickens in that petting zoo.