On the ground Mississippi State out rushed South Carolina by a ratio of 290 to 34 in their 27-14 victory.
Mississippi State Quarterback Nick Fitzgerald broke a school record with 195 rushing yards, constantly evading tackles and finding space by bouncing out to the exterior to sweep down the sidelines.
The final results would suggest that South Carolina's defense was completely incompetent when it came to stopping the Bulldogs' running game, but at least systematically the defense appeared to be pretty sound. The defense wasn't broken when it came to getting coverage at the point of attack, but a breakdown in fundamentals caused the system to collapse. The Gamecocks simply couldn't execute when it came to tackling.
Head coach Will Muschamp had the following message for his defense after Saturday's defeat: "It is hard to be a really good defensive player if you don't like to tackle."
Muschamp bluntly expressed his disappointment in his defense and went so far as to suggest that there should be expected personnel changes with the unit, noting that, "We don't have a lot of options right now, but we are going to have some moving forward."
Redshirt linebacker T.J. Holloman reiterated Muschamp's concerns when it came to missed tackling, stating, "We didn't really wrap up today. We just were diving at them. We just got to go back to work on our technique."
Holloman did manage to intercept a connection between Fitzgerald and primary target Fred Ross in the second quarter. That pick stood out as one of the few inspiring moments that South Carolina can walk away with on the defensive side of the ball.
In addition to Holloman's interception, junior defensive tackle also had a career best nine tackles, the highest total on the team. Jones transferred to South Carolina from Butler Community College in Kansas after 2014. He was redshirted in 2015 and saw his first action in this season's opener against Vanderbilt.
Muschamp came to South Carolina with a reputation as one of the leading defensive minds in college football, but if this game is any indicator, his defensive core has yet to execute on his grand designs. The South Carolina defense will look to get back to the basics when they host Eastern Carolina in their home opener.