Muschamp: Gamecocks ‘whipped up front’ in second half, beset by multiple issues
Three of South Carolina’s first seven drives on Saturday, they were pretty good.
The Gamecocks got a 75-yard play to open things against Tennessee. They closed that stretch by taking advantage of field position for a short score and then marching 75 yards on what USC coach Will Muschamp called the best drive of the season. There were warts, including a punt inside the UT 45-yard line and not getting off their own goal line after a big stop, but what came together, including a 4-for-9 effort on third down, was pretty decent overall.
Then something changed, starting with the most fundamental issue that can hit a football team.
“We got whipped up front in the second half,” Muschamp said Sunday. “In the run game and the pass game.”
Both halves of that are important, but the damage of putting freshman quarterback Ryan Hilinski on an island can’t be understated.
“When it got to be an obviously throw situation, we had a hard time protecting the quarterback,” Muschamp said. “Which I think affects everything.”
When the margin was within 10 points, USC only had three rushes for 17 yards across four drives. One 4-yard run was added before that lead ballooned to 20. Hilinski was hit often, getting hurried five times and sacked three, twice after halftime.
The Gamecocks didn’t extend a single drive on third down in the second half. They had nine chances, and Muschamp said his team made it harder on itself.
“Six of those were third and 7-plus,” Muschamp said. “We didn’t stay ahead of the sticks. The first three series of the second half were three-and-out.”
Penalties factored in there, as flags put USC in second-and-10, first-and-15 and third-and-20 on those first two drives.
It’s the third game in a row where the second half has been a struggle. It was 24-0 Volunteers in Knoxville and 28-17 Florida a week earlier in Columbia, with a 21-0 Gators run to open the fourth. Even in the win against Georgia, the Gamecocks got no second half points in six possessions before an overtime field goal.
“We had three three-and-outs in the third quarter in Knoxville,” Muschamp said. “In the fourth quarter against Florida, we had two three-and-outs and played on short fields.”
In the end, the struggles are a confluence of factors, a blend of failures in different spots. Where the first half features a big play, a long drive and taking advantage of field position, the second featured almost nothing to take forward.
“You go back and look at the first half and four-of-nine on third down, you’re staying on the field,” Muschamp said. “We’ve done some good things in the run game. We hit some things in the throw game.”
In a big spot, that couldn’t sustain.
This story was originally published October 28, 2019 at 5:00 AM.
