Gamecocks collapse late for 2nd-consecutive week
The past three years have been almost unanimously recognized as the most successful in South Carolina football history.
But now, all they are is the past.
The Gamecocks lost a gut-wrenching decision at Kentucky Saturday night by a score of 45-38, and for the first time in four years, they will not go 11-2.
"I'm not going to yell and scream. Everybody saw what happened. They scored more points than we did," head coach Steve Spurrier said. "Overall, as a team, we got beat. Simple as that. Got beat."
A loss to Kentucky, under any circumstances, was a doomsday scenario for South Carolina.
But the way in which the Gamecocks fell in Commonwealth Stadium will feed the hysteria that will now engulf the program.
For the second-consecutive week, South Carolina had a two-touchdown lead in the fourth quarter. And for the second-consecutive week, it snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.
After junior running back Mike Davis scored his third touchdown of the day with 11:45 left in the game, the Gamecock defense crumbled, as it had been all game. Kentucky marched down the field twice without an answer from South Carolina, tying the game at 38 after two Jojo Kemp touchdowns.
The Gamecocks faced the possibility of a game-winning drive with less than three minutes to go, then the unthinkable happened.
Redshirt senior quarterback Dylan Thompson unleashed a pass that was promptly batted in the air at the line and secured by Alvin Dupree, a defensive end, who ran the interception in for a touchdown.
Now down by one score, South Carolina had the ball with a chance to tie the game.
Then, from the Gamecocks' 41 yard line, Thompson threw another interception.
"You can't turn the ball over three times on the road and expect to win," he said. "And I was the reason for that."
For his three total interceptions, the quarterback will receive much of the blame for the loss. And for the most part, he'll accept it.
But there was much more at work Saturday night, and it followed a pattern seen throughout the season.
Davis ran like a man possessed against the Wildcats, averaging eight yards per carry and collecting a total of 183 on his way to his three scores. But with the game on the line, South Carolina would not run the ball.
With his full complement of three timeouts, Spurrier called six combined passing plays in the Gamecocks' final two drives, completely and unequivocally abandoning the run.
The luxury that was Connor Shaw is gone, and in game-deciding scenarios like South Carolina faced Saturday night, faulty play-calling won't be sugar-coated by miraculous quarterbacking. Because after six games, we know that's not who Dylan Thompson is.
The worst has happened, and South Carolina has now officially come down from the high of their very recent glory years.
There's nothing that says the Gamecocks can't run the table and earn themselves an upper-tier bowl game.
But there's logic that says they won't.
And after years of unwavering praise, Spurrier suddenly finds himself under the gun, just like the rest of the team, as they go from keeping their season on track, to salvaging it.
"We've got to find a way to do a lot better to try to have a winning season," Spurrier said. "That's where we are right now, trying to have a winning season."