With another ‘critical’ game coming, Gamecocks lean on respected voices
Will Muschamp didn’t sugar coat it or dance around the fact.
His South Carolina football team needs to get on the right track against Kentucky this season. Not that one game fully takes precedence over another.
“We need to get a win,” Muschamp said Sunday. “There’s no doubt about it, but they’re all critical.”
His team is coming off a 34-14 loss to Missouri, the team’s third of the year and sixth in a row against Power 5 opponents. They get a listless Kentucky team, but the Gamecocks have lost five in a row in the series.
With a schedule as hard as the Gamecocks have, they’re a longshot for a bowl without improving play and winning some upsets. But in those darker moments, a team turns to leaders to hold things together.
“I don’t think there’s any question, you lean on your leadership,” Muschamp said. “It doesn’t have to always be a senior or older player. It’s based on the guys that practice and approach things the right way and I represent our program in the right way and I think we have a lot of those guys.”
He said during practice on Sunday he felt those players were doing their job.
The team has at least eight senior starters.
Health update
Muschamp said tailback Kevin Harris was lost for the season with a torn ligament in his groin. The freshman ran for 147 yards against Charleston Southern.
The coach said quarterback Ryan Hilinski’s elbow got scanned last week and it was fine. He had a sore chest and ankle after getting hit a bit in the Missouri loss. He was moving around well in practice.
Center Hank Manos turned his ankle and will be out this week.
That call
Muschamp didn’t go too much into detail on the call that gave Missouri its first score. Quarterback Ryan Hilinski tried to bat down a pass that was hit back at him, but the ref ruled he caught it and fumbled it backwards into the end zone.
“They felt he possessed the ball and it was a backwards pass,” Muschamp said. “If it had been a forward pass, it would’ve been illegal touching – illegal forward pass, but it was a backwards pass and it was considered a fumble.”
Asked if he felt the catch, which was brief, might not rise to the standard of what a receiver might have to do to hold the ball, Muschamp said Hilinski was treated like any other player would be in that position.
Notes
▪ Muschamp said he liked what he saw from backup QB Dakereon Joyner and that the offense doesn’t change with the redshirt freshman in.
▪ The coach admitted his linebacker play was inconsistent.
NEXT
Who: Kentucky at South Carolina
When: 7:30 pm Saturday, Sept. 28
Where: Williams-Brice Stadium, Columbia
TV: SEC Network
Line: South Carolina by 3.5