Film breakdown: What went wrong for South Carolina’s first-half offense vs. Mizzou

Watching an offensive half such as South Carolina’s against Missouri over the weekend is a reminder of a simple truth: Good offense is about stacking successful plays or breaking big enough ones to overcome a lack of consistency.

Here and there Saturday, South Carolina had a solid run or completed pass, but none came in sequence. A misfiring passing game meant aggressive play calling went for naught, and Missouri seemed hell bent on forcing the Gamecocks to attack downfield in the Tigers’ 31-14 win. Combine that with field position issues at times, and the USC attack was stuck in neutral or worse.

Here is a drive-by-drive breakdown of what went wrong in the first half:

Drive 1 (starts at USC 3-yard line)

This is interesting because the traditional, conservative thing to do when backed up is run twice to try to get space, then maybe throw. Missouri loads the box, so USC throws twice to start, once what looks like a comeback route, then something out-breaking.

The first pass isn’t super crisp and hits Bryan Edwards low. Maybe he could’ve made the catch, and it was the kind of day where that would’ve helped his QB in a big way. He didn’t, the second pass is just a miss and the pressure on third and 10 is enough to mean a conversion would’ve been a big play.

Drive 2 (starts at USC 7-yard line)

Again backed up, South Carolina this time starts with a run. It’s either a run-pass option (RPO), or more likely as a screen to distract an edge player. It doesn’t really do that, but Rico Dowdle manages 1 yard before contact and 2 after.

Then comes the bonkers “backward pass” touchdown. It’s an RPO with a hitch throw to an open Edwards. The defensive end pops free and bats it. Ryan Hilinski tried to bat down the ball, but it was called that his almost catch and bat-down was actually a catch and pass. It went backward, so it was therefore a fumble.

Unless there’s a different standard on catches for receivers and quarterbacks, that’s not a catch by any normal measure.

Drive 3 (starts at USC 25-yard line)

This starts with an inside zone run that does OK (5 yards), Dakereon Joyner taking a zone read for 4, which maybe there was space for a little more, and then an RPO pass on third down.

The RPO is the most interesting. Missouri has nine in the box to seven USC blockers. Edwards out of the slot is matched with a safety playing deep. He gets quite open, but the pass is way high as a pass rusher is bearing down on Hilinski (and he gets belted). It’s a pretty aggressive call, but it’s all sorts of open if the throw is there.

Drive 4 (starts at USC 33-yard line)

The drive starts with a Hilinski keeper, which was a surprise. On second and 6, he makes a quick choice against a corner blitz, but the ball is either tipped or in trying to get it around the leaping corner, the pass was wide.

On third down, Hilinski was given a good deal of protection, but only two receivers past the sticks. It’s not clear if anyone was open, but he held the ball an extra beat and then dumped the ball to Edwards short.

Drive 5 (starts at Missouri 23-yard line)

Off a turnover, the staff went with a heavy package and Joyner at QB, perhaps hoping the run-heavy look could steal a few plays and tie the game (the pass game had struggled to that point).

But on first down, a missed block on the edge had Joyner pushed upfield for a loss of 3. The second call was an RPO, but a crashing defender took away the lane and Joyner held the ball.

Bryan Edwards got more open than could be expected

Drive 6 (starts at USC 25-yard line)

This is South Carolina’s only first down of the half, a nice zone off a jet sweep. The drive ended with a first-down run with too much penetration, a second down sweep that got stuffed and finally a deeper out-breaking route where the ball just wasn’t there on target.

Drive 7 (starts at Missouri 1-yard line)

This was pretty simple. It was one play from the Mizzou 1. They ran a toss with a leading guard. Missouri stacked it up, but Rico Dowdle made a good cut and worked his way past the goal line.

Drive 8 (starts at USC 7-yard line)

Another three and out. The first pass is off target to Bryan Edwards who is running what looks like a corner. Not clear if that’s an errant throw or a slight miscommunication. On second down, USC opens a big crease, but a defensive tackle throws off Dylan Wonnum and makes the play.

Third down is a nice blitz look. Hilinski stands in. The ball seemed to hit Shi Smith but he doesn’t make the catch.

Drive 9 (starts at USC 25-yard line)

The drive opened with one of the better runs of the day, as Tavien Feaster surged and pushed the line for 6 yards. A second-down out pass to Dakereon Joyner was too far out in front.

On third down, Hilinski targeted Edwards on a route where the receiver end up swimming behind the defender on a deeper in-breaking route. Hilinski expertly moved away from pressure, but the throw seemed a hint off and Edwards couldn’t get to it.

Drive 10 (starts at USC 8-yard line)

South Carolina tried one quick pass with 23 seconds left and then keeled out the clock.

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All told the misfiring passing game spelled doom for a team that tends to be pass-heavy facing a defense daring it to pass. Perhaps the Gamecocks could’ve shifted more toward the run, but they’d be doing it in the direction of unblocked defenders against a defense that appears at the moment to be plenty fierce.