Thumbs up, thumbs down: Reaction as Gamecocks fall to Tar Heels to kick off new season
A look at what went right and wrong in South Carolina’s 31-17 season-opening loss to North Carolina at Bank of America Stadium:
Thumbs up
Onside kick: Special teams coach Pete Lembo reached into his bag of tricks to start the second half as the Gamecocks recovered an onside kick. It was a perfect kick by Mitch Jeter, who also recovered the ball. After the onside kick, ESPN’s Greg McElroy declared that Lembo was his favorite assistant coach. The Gamecocks couldn’t convert, however, as they were stopped on downs at the UNC 47-yard line.
Xavier Legette: The former Mullins High standout has been one of the standouts in preseason talk by Beamer and receivers coach Justin Stepp. The senior backed it up and had nine catches for 178 yards. Legette had an outstanding leaping grab for 33 yards to set up a field goal.
Quarterback Spencer Rattler finished 30-of-39 passing for 353 yards.
The crowd: South Carolina definitely won the battle in the crowd as Bank of America was filled with Gamecock faithful. USC fans were spotted all over ESPN’s “College GameDay” pregame show, then arrived early and were loud for much of the game.
Debo Williams: The Delaware transfer had his best game as a Gamecock linebacker with 14 tackles, including a vicious hit in the fourth quarter.
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Injuries: The Gamecocks were hit badly by injuries in the first half as top receiver Antwane Wells, starting safety Nick Emmanwori, starting offensive lineman Cason Henry and linebacker Mo Kaba all left the game and didn’t return.
Emmanwori injured his hamstring on the first play of the game and came back for one play before leaving again. Wells was ruled out for the second half, coach Shane Beamer told ESPN. Wells had battled a lower-body injury during the preseason, but Beamer said he was ready to go earlier in the week.
Kaba, who missed most of the season with an ACL injury, was spotted on the sidelines in the second half with crutches.
Rush offense: The Gamecocks had questions about their running game coming into the game and didn’t get many answers against the Tar Heels. South Carolina managed just 20 yards net rushing before accounting for sacks. USC had to abandon the run after falling behind in the second half but was never in a rhythm running the ball in the first two quarters.
Dakereon Joyner started and carried the ball 12 times for 23 yards.
Secondary: The Gamecocks defensive backs struggled at times against the Tar Heels’ Heisman trophy candidate Drake Maye and UNC’s inexperienced receivers. The Tar Heels played without their top two receivers, but Maye was still able to carve up USC’s secondary to the tune of 24 completions for 269 yards.
Sacks: UNC’s defense made things tough for Rattler. The Tar Heels sacked Rattler nine times in the game, while the Gamecocks didn’t sack Maye once.
This story was originally published September 2, 2023 at 11:16 PM.
