South Carolina enters offseason on ominous scoreless stretch
The South Carolina offense ended the year going backward.
First-year coordinator Bryan McClendon, teaming with quarterback Jake Bentley, found a groove for the better part of the last month of the regular season. The Gamecocks averaged more than 41 points per game during a 2-2 stretch against Ole Miss, Florida, Chattanooga and Clemson.
But then the fireworks went away.
From the beginning of the second half of the Texas A&M loss on Oct. 13 through the first half of the Akron win on Dec. 1, USC averaged more than 10 points a quarter. It then went scoreless in the second half against the Zips and for the entirety of Sunday’s contest with Virginia, the team’s first shutout since 2006. All told, USC enters the offseason having not scored in the last 91:33 of game play.
Familiar trend
An unfortunate USC tradition was renewed Saturday.
The Gamecocks found themselves down at halftime for a third straight bowl game.
▪ 2018 Belk Bowl: Virginia led 14-0. The Cavaliers beat the Gamecocks by 28-0.
▪ 2018 Outback Bowl: Michigan led 9-3. The Gamecocks came back to beat the Wolverines by seven.
▪ 2016 Birmingham Bowl: South Florida led 29-14. The Bulls beat the Gamecocks by seven in overtime.
Battered and tired defense
South Carolina finished the game with just 17:25 in time of possession, its worst mark on the year and the second time under 20 minutes (with a total of 17:40 against Texas A&M). The Gamecocks have not had less time with the ball in at least 15 years.
That was especially challenging given that USC’s defensive unit has been decimated by injuries and only got thinner throughout the game with the loss of secondary players Jaycee Horn, Steven Montac and Rashad Fenton. Virginia ground away with punishing and length drives, none more so than one in the second quarter that lasted 8:10 and 90 yards that ended with a touchdown that put the Cavaliers up 14-0.
UVa also put together two drives of more than five minutes in the fourth quarter, effectively crushing any USC comeback before it could begin.
One milestone, but mostly disappointment
On a 13-yard pass to Shi Smith early in the second quarter, Jake Bentley passed 3,000 passing yards on the season, making him just the fifth quarterback in program history to reach that milestone.
However, he also tossed his 13th and 14th interceptions on the season, setting a new career high, and completed just 42.5 percent of his passes, his worst mark since his freshman season. He wasn’t helped by his receivers, who had at least three drops after seemingly fixing that issue midway through the season.
Saturday also marked the first time in 16 games Bentley failed to throw for a passing touchdown and the first time in 19 games he did not have any touchdown whatsoever.