Slow start dooms South Carolina offense
As he sat in the postgame news conference following Saturday’s 24-14 loss to Florida, South Carolina quarterback Perry Orth insisted his offense was still confident and felt no helplessness as it entered the fourth quarter.
The Gamecocks were headed to their worst offensive day since 2012 and only their seventh sub-210 yard output in the past 15 seasons. Through 45 minutes, South Carolina advanced 44 yards on 30 plays.
“We knew it was a tall task going in,” South Carolina coach Shawn Elliott said. “But I never felt it was going to be the way it was starting out. It was as if we were off rhythm, so to speak. Quarterback and our first half of play wasn’t very good. O-line play, we couldn’tget any push to run the football. Backs couldn’t make any headway running. We had trouble getting guys open.”
Elliott admitted his staff considered inserting third-string quarterback Connor Mitch, who opened the season as a starter and was knocked out by injury, and reserve Lorenzo Nunez.
They got off the schnide in the fourth quarter, shaking free enough to more than quadruple their total yardage in the final stanza alone. No one could point to a solid reason what changed.
“Maybe just confidence after completing the first pass of the drive,” Orth said. “Maybe we started loosening everything up. I’m not sure, but man we started clicking and we were feeling good. I wish we started that way.”
The issues were biggest on third down, where the Gamecocks converted 3 of 10, and combined with the defense’s issues, a pattern formed. The offense left the field quickly, the defense stayed for a long time and the final tally was a near-20-minute deficit in time of possession.
All year, it’s been clear the Gamecocks are short on playmakers, and Florida took away what they had. Without committing extra focus to the run, Florida limited tailback Brandon Wilds to 12 yards on eight carries and South Carolina to .9 yards per carry (2.2 discounting sacks).
Tight end Jerell Adams had four receptions and 44 yards, but the Gators kept a lid on Pharoh Cooper. Most of his 40 yards on three catches came on a single 38-yard score when he went over the top after a blown coverage.
The Gators didn’t shift their coverage to overload Cooper, or match him with cornerback Vernon Hargreaves III, a possible first-round pick.
“They really kind of played their base defense,” Cooper said. “A lot of Cover-1 with a safety over the top. I didn’t get a lot of press coverage or double teams.”
That standard-issue defense just won on the line of scrimmage again and again. Somehow, the Gamecocks still stayed within striking distance despite three sluggish quarters. Troubling starts have stayed a theme, and the team is still searching for answers why.
“I think it took us a little time to figure out what they were doing with their formations,” Orth said. “Then just a lack of execution on our part, miss reads, miss throws. We made some mistakes. It is just something we do really need to work on. I mean, we have been. It just is unfortunate.”
This story was originally published November 14, 2015 at 9:01 PM.