Is South Carolina coming off the best three-game stretch of the Muschamp era?
South Carolina wide receiver Bryan Edwards brushed away the idea of a moral victory. These are not things players want to hear about. They play for real wins, and against Florida last weekend, his Gamecocks didn’t earn one.
And while players don’t want to hear it, it’s worth looking at a performance, which was good enough to lead a top-10 team entering the fourth quarter. The Gamecocks didn’t finish the deal, but lots of top-10 teams play lots of games, and they’re often not down heading into the fourth quarter.
Looking at that, and the few games that came before, it’s worth asking a question with a little historical perspective.
Are the Gamecocks coming off the best three-game stretch of the Will Muschamp era?
The past three times South Carolina has taken the field, the Gamecocks have had a much-needed win to snap the Kentucky losing streak, the upset of No. 3 Georgia and a game in which they went toe to to with Florida for three quarters. It’s not perfect, but it’s one of the best such runs.
The UGA win is easily the biggest victory in the Muschamp era, knocking off a national title contender, and the past three and a half years haven’t seen that much success sustained week to week.
Since 2016, the Gamecocks have two three-game winning streaks and strung together consecutive wins four other times.
One of those three-game winning streaks came in the 2017 season against a trio of teams that missed bowls. In 2016, the Gamecocks won the first three starts of Jake Bentley’s career against a bad UMass team, No. 18 Tennessee, which finished 9-4, and a Missouri squad that went 4-8.
Up until the win in Athens, that UT victory had been the best of the Muschamp era. The small run turned around South Carolina’s season, salvaging a bowl after a 2-4 start.
But this run the Gamecocks are on now could contend with that one. Beating UGA is more impressive than any of those. UK isn’t good, but could make a run at a bowl, thus being better than UMass or Missouri.
But there’s still a loss in there, not a moral victory for the players but a performance imbued with fight just the same.
The end of this season might tell the final tale. Should the Gamecocks at least make a bowl against a brutal schedule, rally back with a freshman quarterback, they will have a good case. Then again, USC will likely need to win three in a row to make that happen.
For now, the past three games stack up as well as any. Yes there’s a loss, but to a top-10 team, and with a top-3 win to boot.
That might just be enough to put it ahead.
