For South Carolina’s offense, Missouri loss feels like more than just a bump in road
It’s time to say it out loud — South Carolina’s offense is holding the team back.
Scream it from the mountaintops, or what constitute mountains in the Midlands. Shout it from your local message board. Tweet it, presumably angrily, at your account of choice.
First, let’s be clear: Nobody is getting fired midseason. Head coach Shane Beamer is a loyal guy. He’s not one to make rash decisions after one week. It’s just not his way.
That said, the 23-10 loss to Missouri feels like an inflection point.
Offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield has been public enemy No. 1 in Columbia for about as long as he has been employed at South Carolina. Some of that is deserved. Some, not so much.
But Saturday was a problem.
The Gamecocks’ 203 yards were the second-worst offensive effort of the Beamer era. The previously dynamic rushing attack — albeit sans a banged-up MarShawn Lloyd, who was eventually sidelined in the second half — mustered all of 1.4 yards per touch (!!) over the game’s final 30 minutes.
Quarterback Spencer Rattler wasn’t entirely to blame, but there were moments to learn from. Beamer said as much in reference to a handful of run-pass options that Rattler slung out to the perimeter instead of handing off inside.
The offensive line, too, looked the part of the group that was maligned for the bulk of last season and through the first three games of this year. Rattler spent most of the night running for his life when he dropped back more than two or three steps.
“Our guys were ready to play and didn’t flinch,” Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz said postgame. “(South Carolina) really only had two drives of significance.”
The Tigers defense is stout. It deserves credit for scheming up a solid gameplan and executing. It ranked fifth in the SEC in rush defense heading into the weekend, after all.
Still, it’s that second part of what Drinkwitz capped the opening statement of his postgame press conference with that should annoy folks.
I’ll give Satterfield and the offensive staff credit: This year hasn’t all been on them. Sluggish offensive outputs against Texas A&M and Kentucky felt more like lacking execution on the players than any specific play-call. That rang true to some degree on Saturday, as well. It doesn’t matter if Lincoln Riley is in the box calling players — you can only do so much when an opposing defensive line is in your face off the snap.
But back to what Drinwitz said.
South Carolina cannot and will not win games in the Southeastern Conference with two drives of significance in a game. The players have to execute, but they also need to be put in the right positions.
Take do-it-all offensive weapon Jaheim Bell as proof of concept.
Bell was lauded this offseason as a possible first-round NFL Draft pick. The Gamecocks even came up with a new position name for him. He, on paper, should’ve been a big piece of this year’s offense.
“I’ll put this out there: To me, Jaheim is one of the most talented players in football that I’ve ever been around in my life,” Satterfield told reporters Wednesday. “If it was up to me, I’d find a way to get him the ball a thousand times. He’s worked very hard at being a complete tight end/football player/receiver. His skill set — he’s born with that.”
Fast forward three days — Bell didn’t touch the ball once against Missouri.
“We’ve got to give him the ball more,” Beamer said, exasperated.
Matchups are going to dictate some of what a team does offensively. I get that. Missouri also objectively has one of the better defenses South Carolina is going to see this season.
That doesn’t excuse what’s become an excruciating offense to watch over the last year-plus.
Perched in the underbelly of Williams-Brice Stadium last week in the minutes after the win over Texas A&M, Lloyd declared that South Carolina had “arrived,” at least on some level.
“We were able to show people that two weeks ago (beating then-No. 13 Kentucky) wasn’t a fluke,” he said at the time. “We’re here now. South Carolina is on the rise. We’re here to compete with anyone, and we’re just going to just keep getting better and better each week.”
Perhaps Saturday was a fluke. But after nearly two years of data, the loss to Missouri felt like the latest misstep for an offense that can’t get out of its own way.
No one is getting left on a tarmac or sent packing before season’s end. In the meantime, South Carolina needs to keep finding a way to win — in spite of its offense.
This story was originally published October 29, 2022 at 9:47 PM.
