Why exactly South Carolina didn’t go for it on fourth-and-1 late against UNC
The South Carolina football team caught some boos from its own fans Saturday in Charlotte.
There were boos with a particularly ineffective attempt to score before the end of the first half. There were some jeers at a few other junctures, including a fourth-down play inside USC’s own 35.
But perhaps the most vivid moment came early in the final quarter when South Carolina eschewed a fourth-and-1 from the Gamecocks’ 45-yard line.
USC was up 3 and they’d just allowed a long scoring drive to let UNC back into the game. Will Muschamp’s reasoning for punting it away was simple.
“I felt confident about our defense coming into this game and making some stops,” Muschamp said.
“You play the percentages there. I felt comfortable about our defense. Obviously I was wrong.”
Joseph Charlton’s punt was downed at the 5, similar to his punt a drive earlier, which had sailed from the UNC 39.
Somewhere in one of South Carolina’s meeting rooms is a chart that shows the percentage of touchdowns and points scored with different sets of field position. Scoring from your own 5 or closer is extremely difficult, and doing it twice is even more so.
More often than not, an offense struggles to get out of the shadow of its own goal post, and a punt leaves the opposing offense starting inside the 50.
But South Carolina’s defense couldn’t make all that happen, even though it almost did.
The Tar Heels faced third-and-4 from their own 11. It took a near-perfect throw and great catch to get 31 yards. The next play saw a wobbling throw on the run go just past the hands of South Carolina’s best defensive back and right to a Tar Heel receiver.
One more great pass, and UNC had its 95 yards on seven plays and a touchdown.
There’s no guarantee South Carolina gets fourth-and-1. But the way things turned out, Muschamp’s staff might be considering a different tact the next time it comes around.
“We’ve got to go back and re-evaluate those situations and leave our offense on the field,” Muschamp said.
