On a Saturday marked by numerous upsets, the Gamecocks were unable to join the party and instead suffered an embarrassing 27-3 loss at home to the Ole Miss Rebels. Entering the game, hopes were high for South Carolina being victorious as they were coming off a bye and the Rebels looked average at best in their loss to Kentucky the week prior. However, Ole Miss was in control from the very beginning and never looked back in a relatively easy win. In such a disappointing loss, is there anything to learn about the Gamecocks, and, if so, what? 

The defense is still the team’s strength

The defense proved once again that it is the strength of the team. On College Gameday, both Nick Saban and Kirk Herbstreit showed love to the Gamecocks’ defensive unit, and it lived up to the hype. Despite performing well all season, many have been waiting for the implosion of the defense, but it looks like it is here to stay.

Ole Miss generated just three “unassisted” scoring drives for only thirteen points against this Gamecock defense. The first two scoring drives for the Rebels were on the heels of a turnover on downs and a Robby Ashford fumble- both of which started in or near Gamecock territory. Jaxson Dart and the passing offense did not register a touchdown and was held in check for the most part by an active Gamecock secondary. They did yield a few explosive plays mostly through the air, but given the potency of the Rebels’ offense this was virtually unavoidable. They continued to battle each and every play and surrendered nothing easily. The defense was hardly the reason this game was not close and resulted in a loss.

That said, this was not the most impressive the defense has been all season. They totaled only one sack and the overall pass rush was not as disruptive as seen in their other contests. While it more than held its own Saturday afternoon, the defense did not disrupt the game in a way that benefited the South Carolina offense, which leads me to my second point.

The offense needs help from the defense to win games

The Gamecocks’ identity thus far has been to play good defense and to rely on the rushing attack with opportune passing plays mixed in. At this juncture, the defense has held its end of the bargain while the offense has been inconsistent.

This is not necessarily surprising. Many fans and analysts knew that the Gamecock offense would need help from the defense early in the season, but the expectation was that the offense would continue to get better and better each game and develop its own independence. While it has improved, it did not show any signs on Saturday that it is at the point of maturity where it is good enough to help win a big game without direct assistance from the defense. 

The Gamecocks want their offensive identity to revolve around their rushing attack, which has not been terrible with an average of four yards per carry on the season. However, I think many expected that the combination of Sellers, Sanders, and Adaway would present massive problems for any defense. At this point, the main takeaway is that it’s been good, not great, and as Saturday proved, it is not consistently potent enough to be relied upon on its own. It, and the rest of the Gamecock offense, has to have help from the defense either setting up easy points or directly scoring itself. 

Without this help, the Gamecock offense is simply not good enough to go head-to-head against some of the upper defenses in the SEC. This is a concern given the remaining defenses on the schedule for Carolina. If the offense does not hit their stride, this season could very easily get away from them.

As a side note, the good teams in football unquestionably play complementary football, but to sustain success, one side of the ball can’t continuously be in need of help from the other. While the offense has shown good things against inferior opponents and against teams with a poor defense, it was nothing short of pathetic against the best defense they’ve faced all season.

The team lacks discipline

In their last two matchups with conference opponents, the Gamecocks have been flagged a combined twenty-one penalties, many of which were 100% avoidable. 

Not all penalties and their consequences are created equally, however. They were a massive reason Carolina lost to LSU, and, although they were of lesser consequence against Ole Miss, the fact that these unforced mistakes continue to occur has to be a major concern moving forward. 

The margin for error in the SEC is incredibly small, and as Carolina fans are fully aware, penalties can be the difference between winning and losing. The Gamecocks must get this cleaned up if they want to pull off an upset or two down the stretch of the season.

As the Gamecocks close in on the halfway point of the season, there have been positives as well as negatives. The loss to Ole Miss highlighted the negatives that must be figured out and cleaned up as they are still in need of three more wins to qualify for a bowl game. No game is an automatic win and must be earned by both sides of the ball carrying their own weight while playing disciplined football.