‘Worst game I’ve played in a Gamecock uniform.’ Receiver shoulders blame in UK loss

What does a quarterback do when his receivers are having issues holding onto his passes?

South Carolina’s Jake Bentley doesn’t do much. At least that was his stance following an ugly night for USC’s vertical game in a 24-10 loss to No. 17 Kentucky on Saturday at Kroger Field.

“I gotta worry about taking care of the ball before I can start getting on them,” Bentley said. “They’re doing their best to do their job. I’m trying my best to do my job. And I’m going to keep throwing to them. I don’t lose faith in them.

“They have a few drops here and there, I’m going to miss a throw here and there. So I can’t get on them too bad. Just try to maintain positive energy on the sideline and just keep rolling.”

Bentley was nowhere near perfect as he fell to 1-7 as Carolina’s starting QB against ranked opponents. He completed just 13 of 28 passes for 148 yards, a touchdown and three interceptions. Take away his fluke 58-yard scoring strike to Deebo Samuel in the third quarter and Bentley comes up short of 100 yards for only the second time in his career.

But the junior could have used some more assistance. He was sacked twice and had more than a handful of his throws dropped. A variety of targets were guilty — including Samuel on USC’s opening possession — but one went public with it.

Bryan Edwards, a normally sure-handed option who also serves as Carolina’s main punt returner, took to Twitter after the game to shoulder some blame.

“Let gamecock nation and my team down today,” Edwards tweeted. “The worst game I’ve played in a gamecock uniform. Have to be better.”

Edwards set a season-low with 25 receiving yards. He tied a season-low with three catches. The junior was the target of a severe under-throw by Bentley in the second quarter that could have led to a touchdown.

“I’ve got to hit Bryan down the sideline,” Bentley said.

USC coach Will Muschamp guessed the Gamecocks totaled six to seven drops for the game.

“Can’t catch it for them,” Muschamp said. “They have to catch the ball. That’s why they’re on scholarship. They have to catch the ball.”

This story was originally published September 30, 2018 at 8:23 AM.