No. 10 South Carolina picks up 38-10 victory over South Carolina State

South Carolina debuted refreshed garnet endzones in its weather-delayed home opener against South Carolina State on Saturday evening. The Gamecocks also won 38-10 as they prepare for Southeastern Conference play.

Kickoff for Saturday’s game, originally set for 7 p.m., was delayed by unsafe weather in the area until 9:21 p.m. ET.

Saturday’s win featured South Carolina scoring in all three phases: offensively, defensively and on special teams. However, the Gamecock offense only scored two of South Carolina’s touchdowns.

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The game — like the weather leading up to it — got off to a sloppy start as both teams picked up four formation penalties in the game’s opening quarter.

The Gamecocks had two drops in their two opening drives, missing on all three of LaNorris Sellers’ first passes. South Carolina also started the game with back-to-back three-and-out drives.

In total, the Gamecocks finished the first quarter with 12 total yards and went 0-3 in the passing game. When the second quarter began, South Carolina immediately picked up its third formation penalty of the game.

“There’s no excuse for that,” head coach Shane Beamer said. “I mean, that’s day one stuff. That’s not good. There’s times we’re sitting there trying to draw them offsides and we flinched. We had back-to-back in the fourth quarter, which is disappointing. I mean, I’m getting ready to go for it on fourth down, and we have a false start.”

“We got them to jump offside, I thought, but then apparently we weren’t lined up the right way. And then we punt, and we’re not lined up the right way. So that goes back to us as coaches, starting with me.”

South Carolina did not get its first first down of the game until the 10:43 mark of the second quarter.

Jalen Johnson shined in the opening quarter, taking three receptions for 55 yards. The wideout also made a third-down catch in a drive that led to a tiebreaking field goal for SC State.

South Carolina’s offense, after a delayed start of their own, started moving on their second drive of the second quarter. However, the drive stalled out and kicker William Joyce missed a field goal, keeping the Bulldogs up three.

The Gamecock offense didn’t touch the ball between 7:15 and the final two minutes of the half. However, the Gamecocks’ special teams picked up two touchdowns in its absence.

Defensive back Vicari Swain opened the scoring for South Carolina with a 65-yard punt return. Three plays later, he took another one back 45 yards to tie the school record for most punt return touchdowns in a season (3).

For the second straight week, Swain’s heroics on special teams ignited the Gamecock offense. South Carolina opened the drive moving across the 50 on a 25-yard connection between Sellers and Nyck Harbor. However, the drive stalled as the half ended. A William Joyce 49-yard field goal sent the Gamecocks to the half up 17-3.

“Certainly a sloppy first half from an offensive standpoint,” Beamer said. “I think field position had a big reason for that. Not to make excuses, but I think our first four drives, we started all four of them inside the 20 yard-line. There’s no excuse. We’ve got to be better when we’re backed up … there’s a lot to clean up.”

South Carolina’s offense has struggled to find a rhythm in its opening two games, scoring four touchdowns in two weeks. Sellers said the team was clicking better in fall camp.

“I’m not sure if it’s just like the competition or just the different looks from seeing our defense to seeing different looks from teams,” Sellers said. “But, we’ve just got to communicate better and execute better.”

Beamer told his offense he’d learn a lot about the group on the opening drive of the second half. South Carolina’s offense answered the call, driving eight plays for its first touchdown of the night. After Sellers cut the wrong direction into a tackle, Oscar Adaway III muscled his way into the endzone to cap off the drive. However, it would be only one of two offensive touchdowns the entire night.

“Just coming out fast, really,” Sellers said. “… For us to go out there and begin the second half and have something going, it just shows that, yeah, we didn’t start out how we wanted to, but it still seemed like we finished.”

South Carolina’s offense came back out in the third and went three-and-out. However, the Gamecocks again found a new way into the endzone after an SC State fumble forced by Bryan Thomas Jr. led to a 41-yard return for six by Jaron Willis.

Entering the final quarter of play, South Carolina’s offense only accounted for ten of the Gamecocks’ 31 points.

Sellers struggled throughout Saturday’s contest. However, as the third quarter winded down, the sophomore quarterback found something as he launched a 35-yard pass to Vandrevious Jacobs to extend the Gamecock lead to 35. Before the touchdown pass, Sellers was 10-18 for 93 yards, including 23 on the ground.

The touchdown was Sellers’ last pass of the night. Sellers finished Saturday’s contest, completing 11 of his 19 attempts for 128 yards and a touchdown. He completed nine of his last 11 passes after starting the game 2-8.

“Obviously, I can be better,” Sellers said. “I think that’s just it. Need to be better offensively.”

As the calendar shifted from Saturday to Sunday, the Gamecocks saw their seven-quarter streak without allowing a touchdown snap early in the fourth quarter. Luke Doty took the South Carolina offense the rest of the way, but failed to reach the endzone. Air Noland also came in for the final drive of the night, but he didn’t record any statistics.

“We won the game, we’re two-and-0, we get right back to work tomorrow,” Beamer said. “We know we have a big challenge against a team that I saw scored 34 unanswered points in Blacksburg tonight.”

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