Defeat at Florida sets Gamecocks back in SEC East division race
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — After losing at LSU last weekend, South Carolina headed to the Swamp hoping to take the lead in the Southeastern Conference Eastern Division with a win at Florida. But the Gamecocks fumbled their way to a 44-11 defeat that has all but eliminated them from the race.
Turnovers plagued the Gamecocks all day, preventing them from building any momentum.
On USC’s first play from scrimmage, junior quarterback Connor Shaw lost the ball when he was hit on a corner blitz he said he never saw coming, resulting in a loss of 15 yards and giving Florida the ball at the USC 2-yard line.
Three plays later, the Gators were on the board after sophomore quarterback Jeff Driskel passed to redshirt junior tight end Jordan Reed.
With the help of two 15-yard penalties, South Carolina put together a drive that resulted in a field goal, and the first quarter ended with the game still very much in contention.
In the second quarter, though, the Gamecocks turned over the ball again and again, and along with it, any hopes of a comeback.
With just over eight minutes to play in the half and Florida still leading 7-3, senior Adam Yates was on the field to attempt a field goal and potentially reduce Florida’s lead to one point.
Instead, Yates’s kick was blocked by UF junior Sharrif Floyd and recovered by the Gators. The play was the first of three crucial mistakes by the special teams in the second quarter. Those errors paved the way for Florida to score two more touchdowns before halftime.
“The only thing you can hope is that your guys give it their best shot and not just lay the ball down and basically say, ‘Here, Florida, we don’t want to win,” said coach Steve Spurrier. “‘You guys take this fumble and this fumble and this fumble.’ It was so sad.”
After Yates’s missed field goal, the Gamecock defense forced a three-and-out, but when Florida’s Kyle Christy punted, Ace Sanders fumbled the ball. UF running back Trey Burton forced the fumble and recovered it at the USC 29. Sanders was at a loss to explain the play.
“It was just a good play by a guy,” he said.
Florida scored its second touchdown with three minutes left in the half on a 13-yard pass from Driskel to wide receiver Quinton Dunbar. On the kickoff, sophomore Damiere Byrd ran the ball from the end zone to the 16-yard line before UF’s Solomon Patton forced another turnover.
UF sophomore running back Chris Johnson ran the ball back to the South Carolina 1-yard line, and three plays later, Driskel connected with Reed again to give the Gators a 21-3 lead.
“It’s hard to take the momentum back from a great team,” said junior tailback Marcus Lattimore. “We just couldn’t do it. They had the momentum the whole game and had the crowd behind them. That was really what did it.”
Despite the sloppy play by the special teams, Spurrier was quick to take the blame off special teams coach Joe Robinson, saying that USC needs to re-evaluate its personnel and “get guys out there that really want to play for South Carolina.”
At halftime, Spurrier benched Shaw after telling him that he “wasn’t getting the job done.” But sophomore Dylan Thompson fared no better, leading USC to -1 total yards in the third quarter.
After the game, Spurrier did not say which quarterback will start against Tennessee next week, although he said in his Sunday teleconference that Shaw would probably keep the starting job. Both quarterbacks said they would support one another, no matter who Spurrier ultimately chooses. Shaw said the team is looking ahead to next week, even with the SEC East all but gone, as a chance to get back on a winning track.
“We have a lot to play for,” Shaw said. “We’re going to find out a lot about the character on this team. I feel like we have a lot of leaders on this team, so we’ll step up and get ready for Tennessee.”
Two weeks after defeating then-No. 5 Georgia at home, the Gamecocks have turned their sights from a conference championship and will focus instead on improving their effort against their next two SEC opponents.
“I guess guys got big heads or something,” said sophomore defensive end Jadeveon Clowney. “We just got turned around after Georgia, so we’re going to try to turn this thing back around and get back on a winning streak.”