Thumbs up, thumbs down: USC vs. Charleston Southern
A look at what went right and wrong for South Carolina football in its 72-10 home-opening win against the Charleston Southern Buccaneers.
Thumbs up
Ryan Hilinski
The freshman from California was as good as advertised in his first college start. He completed his first 12 passes and finished with 282 yards passing in the game. Hilinski’s presence and demeanor energized the team and fan base after a tough week. The Gamecocks offense also put up a school-record 775 yards to go along with 72 points.
Offensive line
After struggling last week against UNC, the Gamecocks’ offensive line didn’t allow a sack and USC rushed for 493 yards in the game. The Gamecocks were the bigger team up front and it showed.
Gamecocks secondary
USC made a few changes to the starting lineup in its secondary, and that paid dividends. The Gamecocks picked off three passes and held the Buccaneers to just 195 yards, with most coming after the game was in hand.
Kevin Harris
Hilinski wasn’t the only freshman to shine as the Georgia running back rushed for 147 yards and three touchdowns. With guys like Rico Dowdle, Tavien Feaster and Mon Denson ahead of him, Harris might not have a big impact this season, but a bright future could be in store with him and Marshawn Lloyd coming in next year.
Thumbs down
Sherrod Greene’s ejection
The junior linebacker was ejected in the second quarter for targeting. He had to miss the final two quarters but will be back next week against Alabama.
Early mistakes
There weren’t many big mistakes against CSU, but Nick Muse’s fumble early in the game could have been big. The Gamecocks responded from there and only had one more turnover.
Lack of deep balls
South Carolina talked about throwing the ball downfield more this week but only did so a handful of times. Sure, being up by so many points had something to do with it. But with weapons like Bryan Edwards and Shi Smith, look for the Gamecocks to try it even more in weeks to come.
Pass rush
The Gamecocks’ defense was pretty stout all game but one number jumped out: USC only had one sack against CSU despite having a dominant front. USC also didn’t do a lot of blitzing during game, so that might have factored into the sack total.
This story was originally published September 7, 2019 at 4:49 PM.
