Can South Carolina football avoid another second-half slide?
For a couple weeks in 2019, South Carolina’s football program had a narrow path to a respectable season.
The Gamecocks had started the year on the wrong foot with an upset to a UNC team that was 2-9 the year before. They started 1-3 overall and didn’t have a clear path to a bowl game.
Then came the upset in Athens against No. 4 Georgia. Suddenly, a team that lost its season-opening starting quarterback to injury had a 3-3 record with a plausible path to a bowl. It was at least a spot of safe harbor, given everything that had happened.
But the winds carried the Gamecocks to a 1-5 finish. Injuries mounted. Two must-win games were lost.
At this moment in 2020, the stakes are different. USC could lose out and still go bowling in a strange year, and the all-SEC schedule is going to put a different spin on whatever record they finish with.
But like last year, the Gamecocks face a set of opportunities going forward from the halfway point of the season, with the specter of again slipping down the stretch.
“I think that after the Georgia game, offensively we didn’t make much improvement at all,” Gamecocks coach Will Muschamp said before his team took a blowout loss to LSU. “We lost confidence, which affects your entire team, not just your offense.
“I’ve seen that this team continues to improve. This team continues to practice the right way. That wasn’t always the case last year, to be honest. So from that standpoint that’s been very pleasing.”
Veteran tailback Deshaun Fenwick echoed some of that in explaining what the team needs to do to stay the course.
“Preparation,” Fenwick said. “We’ve been preparing hard. It’s been a long summer, believe it or not.”
“We’ve been ready to go. … I think we’re more dialed in than ever.”
After that Georgia win last October, the Gamecocks gave a good fight to Florida, a team that went on to win 11 games. (Will Muschamp declared there were no moral victories.)
The Gamecocks faced a trio of contests where they were projected to be and ultimately were favored: visiting 2-5 Tennessee, hosting listless Vanderbilt and finally taking on a good mid-major in Appalachian State. Win all three, and the Gamecocks would’ve been bowling.
But an explosive first half in Knoxville — the Gamecocks led 21-17 — gave way to a disastrous second half and a 41-21 loss. USC got the win against Vanderbilt, but the offense sputtered in a 20-15 loss to the Mountaineers, meaning even one long-shot upset in the final two games wouldn’t be enough for a bowl. (The Gamecocks limped to two more losses and a 4-8 finish.)
This year’s 10-game schedule has some opportunities, and just getting to 4-6 probably would be an accomplishment.
South Carolina is an eight-point underdog against Texas A&M this week, but that should be the second-hardest game left. (Georgia will be a long shot, though it was last year as well.)
Muschamp’s squad should be favored against Missouri at home. Ole Miss should be about a touchdown spread in Oxford. Kentucky will be less than that in Lexington.
But being favored or within striking distance doesn’t mean much if you don’t actually win a few. Last year’s Gamecocks had chances down the stretch but just didn’t cash in.
The chances come again in 2020, and Muschamp thinks and hopes something might be different.
“It goes back to the leadership of the team,” Muschamp sad. “This has been a team that’s handled how we practice and the expectation of what we need to do to prepare in order to be successful on Saturday. And I think this team has handled that pretty well. We’ll see as we continue to move forward.”
South Carolina (2-3) vs No. 7 Texas A&M (4-1)
When: 7 p.m. Saturday
Where: Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia
TV: ESPN
Line: Texas A&M by 7.5
South Carolina 2020 football schedule
Sept. 26: Tennessee 31, South Carolina 27
Oct. 3: Florida 38, South Carolina 24
Oct. 10: South Carolina 41, Vanderbilt 7
Oct. 17: South Carolina 30, Auburn 11
Oct. 24: LSU 52, South Carolina 24
Oct. 31: OPEN
Nov. 7: vs. Texas A&M, 7 p.m., ESPN
Nov. 14: at Ole Miss, 7:30 p.m., SEC Network
Nov. 21: vs. Missouri
Nov. 28: vs. Georgia
Dec. 5: at Kentucky
This story was originally published November 2, 2020 at 6:15 PM.
