Orth plays best game, but crucial mistakes leave Gamecocks short

Shawn Elliott promised anything would be in play this week. South Carolina’s offense, one of the worst red-zone units in the country, had to use any page of any playbook to get themselves in the end zone.

The Gamecocks did. Their offense rolled up the most yardage (445) it has all season and 28 points. Perry Orth played a fine game, Brandon Wilds rushed for 128 yards and two touchdowns and David Williams was the pacer in the first half.

Those were many bright spots. The dim ones were the mistakes Orth made and some opportunities Elliott and G.A. Mangus didn’t take advantage of – all of them loomed in a seven-point loss.

Orth threw a back-breaking pick-six in the third quarter which turned a 28-21 game into a 14-point deficit. He took a sack on the first drive of the third to knock USC out of field-goal range. Orth had three possessions in the fourth to try and even the score and got one first down; he took two more sacks and threw one more interception.

It was again a game of just-not-enough. Orth has improved and his coach and teammates are solidly behind him.

But it was still a loss, and while Orth, Elliott and G.A. Mangus may be able to open the Gamecocks’ scoring a bit more, they need a heady decision-maker under center as well as someone to run the show.

“I think Perry played pretty well,” Elliott said. “The interception for the touchdown … oooh, man, if he could have that one throw back.”

Orth hit some third-down throws, but the old demons rose. He has a problem seeing over the line; he certainly never saw Donovan Wilson camped alongside Pharoh Cooper on the pick that ended up being the game-winner. He had to know that A&M was going to bring heat against a not-so-great offensive line, and that if his first read wasn’t there to throw it away.

Sacks came when a completion might have meant a big play and moving the sticks. Elliott declared the Gamecocks would have gone for the win had they been able to score with 1:28 to play – they never got that chance.

Orth is playing well above himself. He’s overjoyed to be handed this spot, as he should be. There’s no other team in the SEC or perhaps any Power-5 conference that would have taken a flyer on him, much less had him in position to start.

The team loves him, he’s made some huge plays and showed off another facet to his game Saturday. He sprinted 66 yards on a designed run. One can tell how confident Elliott and other players are in Orth, and he’s feeling great and not ducking blame.

“We played pretty darn well on offense. The difference was my interception,” he said. “I think we’re going to keep fighting and we’re going to be all right.”

The Gamecocks need him to be perfect, though. With five losses already, they’re flirting with running out of time before they find out if he can be.

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This story was originally published October 31, 2015 at 7:17 PM with the headline "Orth plays best game, but crucial mistakes leave Gamecocks short."