The Gamecocks opened conference play with a loss on Saturday night 31-7 to the Vanderbilt Commodores at Williams-Brice Stadium.
To start SEC play, the Gamecocks could not afford to continue its offensive inconsistency, and with the loss of redshirt sophomore quarterback LaNorris Sellers late in the second quarter, the margin for error was even smaller.
The Gamecocks' offense began the game fast, marching down the field to tie the game 7-7, capping it off with redshirt senior Rashul Faison punching it in from seven yards out for his first touchdown in a South Carolina uniform.
“I was trying to give our team some energy and to start the game off giving us confidence going forward,” Faison said. “To show everyone that I'm here, that was my goal.”
While the following drive looked positive, with the offense moving all the way down to the Commodores' 14-yard line, a Sellers' interception ended the Gamecocks' best scoring chance outside the opening drive.
Missed chances plagued the Gamecocks, and the interception was just the beginning. Pre-snap penalties stopped drives before they could get started and kept the Gamecocks deep in its own territory in the first half. South Carolina ended the game with eight penalties.
“A lot of not-good-enough football tonight, and when you have that much self-inflicted mistakes, that falls on the head coach,” head coach Shane Beamer said.
Not amounting to much offense after the interception, the Gamecocks looked for some momentum going into halftime. Graduate student quarterback Luke Doty came in and managed the two-minute drill well, getting the Gamecocks into field goal range. However, the 53-yard attempt from redshirt freshman punter Mason Love missed wide left, and the Gamecocks went into halftime down 14-7.
Mistakes continued, despite Doty finding a small rhythm connecting with freshman wide receiver Donovan Murph for a 24-yard gain and the Gamecocks moving the ball across midfield. The drive ended on a blown-up-fourth-down run.
In the second half, defensively, the Gamecocks could not get out of its own way. Backing the Commodores up to third and 21, the Gamecocks was in a prime position to get Vanderbilt's offense off the field. But a 24-yard completion on top of a roughing the passer penalty kept the defense on the field.
Off the heels of sophomore defensive back Justin Okoronkwo’s first collegiate interception, the Gamecocks again found some success getting two first downs and finding itself in Vanderbilt territory, but on fourth and short, Doty could not connect with redshirt senior tight end Jordan Dingle, and the Gamecocks was turned away empty yet again.
Coming down the stretch in the fourth quarter, the Gamecocks' self-inflicted wounds continued, including failing to get out of its own way, in addition to carelessness with the football. The final three drives resulted in two fumbles and an interception.
“When you turn the ball over four times in the SEC, you're going to get your rear ends kicked, and that's what happened tonight,” Beamer said.
Defensively, the Gamecocks allowed a 50% conversion rate on third down.
“It comes down to executing every call and ... not missing tackles,” Okoronkwo said.
Early in the season, the Gamecocks has not been able to establish an offensive identity. However, despite the loss, the Gamecocks managed its highest passing total of 242 yards combined to go along with Faison's best performance of the season and only punting twice.
With question marks around Sellers' availability going into next week, the Gamecocks is going to have to clean up its operation on both sides of the ball.
“We've go to get a whole lot better 'cause right now it's nowhere near good enough, but we have players in that locker room that care and hurt, and we've got to continue to stay together,” Beamer said.
What’s next?
The Gamecocks will go on the road to face the No. 25 Missouri Tigers next Saturday, Sept. 20, in Columbia, Missouri. The battle for the Mayor's Cup is set to kick off at 7 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN.