Missed opportunities surround South Carolina's fourth SEC loss to No. 14 Oklahoma, 26-7

Midway through the third quarter of Saturday afternoon’s game, Oklahoma found itself on third down. Jalon Kilgore worked in coverage, read the play, got his hands on the ball, and it tipped off his fingertips. The play became Kilgore’s third potential interception that he missed out on against the Sooners.

Missed opportunities like that did not just define the day for South Carolina; it defined the season to date.

The Gamecocks found themselves in a one-score game at the half, despite being outgained 233 to 109. However, the Sooners proved too tough, pulling away in the third and winning 26-7.

By the end of the afternoon, South Carolina walked out of a half-empty Williams-Brice Stadium with its fourth loss in five games, falling below .500 to 3-4.

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Following the opening play near-interception turned pass breakup by Kilgore, Oklahoma committed a penalty that set up 2nd and 20. However, one 18-yard gain by Tory Blaylock later, the Sooners were back on schedule on 3rd and 2. Add some soft coverage over the middle, and the Sooners were knocking on the door of the endzone.

In the end, what looked to be trending towards an early three-and-out stop ended in a perfectly scripted, 10-play 75-yard drive. Blaylock capped the Sooners’ opening drive with the same 18-yard gain that saved it on the 2nd and 20.

When the Gamecocks got the ball, their offense moved downfield thanks to quick passes to Nyck Harbor. Short passes seemed key for South Carolina in the opening half, as LaNorris Sellers ended the half completing all 11 of his passes for 70 yards.

A Rahsul Faison fourth-down conversion put the Gamecocks inside the 20. However, down to the Oklahoma 3, South Carolina again failed to score points in the redzone. The Gamecocks entered Saturday afternoon last in the SEC in redzone offense, 116th nationally.

Saturday marked the second time in the 2025 season that South Carolina was held to 7 points. It’s also the third time in the last five games that the Gamecocks were held to only one touchdown.

Sellers believes the offensive issues come down to a lack of consistency.

“We get stuff going, we drive on the ball, we really just need to finish,” Sellers said. “The first drive we had down there just kind of stalled, can’t let that happen.

And then, (later) we got down there, we stall for a little bit, we end up pulling out the drive, but when we get down there, we got to drive. We got to finish.”

Soft coverage continued to plague the Gamecocks as Oklahoma moved the ball seamlessly through the air in the game’s opening half. The Sooners found themselves walking down the field for the second time in three drives, culminating in a 13-play, 92-yard drive and a touchdown.

Meanwhile, the South Carolina offense failed to replicate the success of its opening drive. The Gamecocks’ following two drives totaled a combined six plays for -8 yards.

While the Gamecocks’ offense picked up late in the half, driving all the way to inside the one-yard line, South Carolina again tried running up the middle, and again got stuffed inside the inch yard line on third down.

Luckily for South Carolina, the Gamecocks found a miracle on 4th and goal. From the three-yard line, Sellers found Harbor wide open for six. The touchdown was South Carolina’s first passing TD inside the redzone all season and Harbor’s second.

Vicari Swain’s punt return not long after gave the Gamecocks a shot to do something before the break. However, the clock ran out on South Carolina at the Oklahoma 27-yard line. The drive ended in controversy as Sooners players trapped Brady Hunt on the ground, running the clock out.

Hindsight is 20/20 on the situation, Beamer said. He suggested it may have been better than to just throw the ball out of bounds in that scenario.

“We’ve got to be able to get out of bounds or get the first down,” head coach Shane Beamer said. ” … If the clock is running down, and we’re not able to clock it in time, we’ve got to make a call that says, ‘Just run a play.’ … certainly we need to get points there, we practice two-minute (scenarios) all the time and had the right idea, we just didn’t quite get it done right there.”

South Carolina’s opening drive in the third did not fare better than many of their others on Saturday. After just three plays, the Gamecocks found themselves punting on 4th and 1. The three-and-out put the game in a long scoring drought until a Sooners 55-yard field goal made it 17-7.

Nine plays later, a 20-yard reception to Isaiah Sategna III turned the Gamecocks’ one-score halftime deficit into 21 before the quarter break.

The back-to-back scoring drives for Oklahoma seemingly broke the Gamecocks. South Carolina went three-and-out, then picked up back-to-back penalties on fourth down. After three quarters, the Gamecocks found themselves with only 139 yards of offense.

The fourth proved more of the same for South Carolina’s lackluster offense. In their opening drive’s first three plays, Sellers was hurried out of the pocket every time. By the end of the drive, Sellers faced 4th and 38 after being sacked for a 20-yard loss. The drive-killing sack was Oklahoma’s third of the possession. The drive also accounted for 14 plays, picking up only 27 yards.

“Yeah, it’s frustrating,” Sellers said of the pressures. “We know we all got stuff to work on. Not just them, but receivers, quarterbacks, running backs, it’s all on us.”

By the time the Gamecocks got a full possession on offense again, the game reached an out-of-hand point where true freshman Cutter Woods took South Carolina the rest of the way.

To get back on track, all it takes is one win, Sellers said. The Gamecocks look to get on track as they head into a three-game gauntlet of the nation’s 4th, 5th and 6th-ranked teams.

To overcome the adversity, everybody needs to get on the same page, DQ Smith said.

“We know what kind of team. We know what kind of dudes we have in the locker room. What kind of talent, what kind of coaches we have,” Smith said. “So just, really getting back on track, trying to get everybody on the same page, and we’ll be good going down the stretch.”

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