SOUTH CAROLINA FOOTBALL

Gamecock Central breaks down the good and the bad from the loss to Tennessee, mostly the bad.

THREE UP

1. Bryan Edwards and Shi Smith

Edwards set the school record for career receptions and Smith had a career day with 11 catches for 156 yards and a 75-yard touchdown on the first play of the game. Edwards also out-OBJed Odell Beckham on this catch:

But even this positive has some negative connotation. Edwards and Smith combined for 19 catches. The rest of the wide receivers? Three. (Tight ends caught five passes and a running back caught one.)

2. Basketball

Starts this week. I’m excited. Are you? Both teams should be pretty interesting, and good, this year.

3. …

Let’s just move on...

THREE DOWN

1. Focus

You had a feeling on Thursday, when Muschamp was still talking about the officiating from last week, that the team wasn’t focused on Tennessee. You know the saying, “Don’t let the same team beat you twice?” That’s what it felt like. There was a point in the game, when Jeremy Pruitt drew a flag for throwing a tantrum over a call that the officials clearly got correct, that I thought it was going to be Tennessee that lost its focus. But Pruitt and the Vols regained their composure. South Carolina did not. Both teams finished with eight penalties, but that doesn’t tell the whole story. South Carolina had multiple false starts and a delay of game, which goes back to focus. It also had two holding penalties on one play, which is sad or funny or both.

South Carolina seemed unprepared, and then unable to adjust. The defense that had been playing so well allowed Tennessee, which started a wide receiver at quarterback and played three different guys at the position, to throw for 351 yards, often to wide-open receivers who averaged 19.5 yards per completion. Offensively, receivers were once again plagued by drops, and South Carolina’s run game, which had been productive even when the passing game wasn’t, all but disappeared. In fact, let’s talk about that some more.

2. Run game

One week after Tavien Feaster rushed for 175 yards on 25 carries against a strong Florida defense, South Carolina was unable to consistently move the ball on the ground. Draws to Feaster frequently picked up decent yardage, but he was also stuffed for no gain a few times after Tennessee got wise to it. His longest rush was only 13 yards. Against Florida, the running backs averaged over 6.3 yards per carry, but against Tennessee South Carolina averaged barely half that, 3.8 yards. Things weren’t any better in short yardage situations, as South Carolina struggled to get in the end zone from the one-yard line.

3. Officiating

It was bad. Again. Calls were inconsistent and outright missed. The officials even struggled communicating with each other. At one point, referee Steve Marlow announced an incomplete pass while the other officials tried frantically to get his attention to let him know there was a false start and the play never happened. When they finally did get his attention, he stared blankly, and took several seconds to comprehend and then relay the announcement.

This, for example, was not flagged.

I wonder what sort of transparency we'll get this week.