SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS FOOTBALL

The Gamecocks have spent the majority of the season establishing their identity as a running football team the last six games, but their head coach said that doesn't mean they have to be so lacking in the passing game.

South Carolina struggled again through the air for the second straight week, this time in a 38-27 loss to No. 9 Florida.

"As coaches, we need to circle up and figure out a way for us to be more consistent in the passing game," Muschamp said. “It’s frustrating, we’re running the ball well, we’ve got to develop some things throwing the football.”

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The Gamecocks threw for 170 yards Saturday against the Gators, a week after compiling just 155 yards through the air in an upset over then-No. 3 Georgia.

Muschamp said it's not all on starter Ryan Hilinski, and the Gamecocks had a few mental errors over the course of the game.

“We had some drops today for the time on the season I believe," Muschamp said. “We’ve got to throw and catch the ball better.”

Hilinski finished his day completing 17 of his 35 passes, close to 48 percent completion, and averaged 4.7 yards per attempt. Before he left the Georgia game with a knee injury he was 15-for-20. Dakereon Joyner, his replacement that day, went 6-for-12 for 39 yards passing.

Muschamp said Hilinski was healthy in Saturday's loss and didn't pin all of it on the freshman quarterback. He was sacked three times for 21 yards.

“I don’t think it’s just on Ryan. It’s not all his fault. We had some dropped balls today that should have been caught. We had some breakdowns in protection," Muschamp said. "We’ve got to do a better job of protecting and keeping the quarterback upright.”

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They were led in receiving by Bryan Edwards, who had seven catches for 78 yards, but failed to connect on a handful of deep balls over the course of the game.

“Obviously it was a little rainy today so I feel like it just threw our timing off a little bit," Edwards said. "We had opportunities down the field, we just couldn’t connect. That’s just what it is.”

This is Hilinski's third straight game with less than 200 yards passing, and the Gamecocks second time they've lost with him throwing for fewer than 200 yards.

“It ain’t his fault. Obviously sometimes he has some pressure and sometimes he’s gotta make some throws but never put it all on yourself," Edwards said. “Obviously sometimes guys could run better routes, do a better job of getting open but we don’t put all the blame on him. We all look ourselves in the mirror and ask ourselves what can we do better.

South Carolina (3-4, 2-3 SEC) will travel to Tennessee next for a 4 p.m. kick off in Knoxville.