South Carolina-Florida football report card: Breakdowns in crucial moments
The South Carolina football team lost late 38-27 against the Florida Gators in Williams-Brice Stadium on Saturday. With that in mind, it’s time to grade the Gamecocks.
Quarterbacks
On a rainy day, it was a rough afternoon all around for Ryan Hilinski. He finished with only 170 yards on 35 passes. After the Gators went ahead, he had a fumble on what looked like a busted draw play. Grade: D+
Running backs
USC needed a big day on the ground and got it despite losing top tailback Rico Dowdle. Tavien Feaster had 175 yards, while Mon Denson added 58. Grade: A-
Wide receivers
It wasn’t a day where they were used often, but at times there were drops and some issues. More importantly, there just wasn’t enough play-making on a day it was needed. Grade: D+
Tight ends
There were a couple solid catches on a couple targets and USC used some three-tight end looks early on some successful runs. Grade: C-
Offensive line
Going against a blitz-heavy front, the Gamecocks managed to break some big runs, but the run game wasn’t extremely consistent. The pass protection had some issues as Hilinski got sacked three times and pressured at least seven more. Grade: C-
Defensive line
Call it an up-and-down day. At points USC got pressure but also allowed some bad scrambles. The Gators didn’t run often and relied on explosive plays, but USC couldn’t quite contain all of that. Grade: C-
Linebackers
There were some issues controlling the Gator run game after backs got past the first level. Florida also hit some crucial plays to the tight ends, though they weren’t giving up very deep passes. Grade: D+
Defensive backs
The Gamecocks only allowed four explosive plays through the air, but they gave up a good number of efficient throws. Kyle Trask ended up with a passer rating better than 148 and there was a slew of penalties. Grade: D
Special teams
There were no game-changing plays, but Parker White hit both his field goals, Shi Smith got some actual kick returns (coverage was so-so), and Joseph Charlton just kept booming punts. Good day all around here. Grade: A-
Coaching
It’s hard to put an exact grade on what happened, but South Carolina certainly had struggles responding. The Gamecocks went up seven and gave the lead back within 15 seconds, and later held a three-point lead for all of two possessions. The Gamecocks didn’t have the better team, but they let a chance slip away. Grade: C-
Overall
Down its best running back, South Carolina led a top-10 team at home entering the fourth quarter. That’s a spot a team wants to be in. Allowing three touchdowns in six minutes isn’t ideal, but this game would have been more “found money” than anything else. Grade: C-
