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South Carolina

National reactions from South Carolina's loss to Ole Miss

Screenshotby: Kevin Miller2 hours agokevinmillerGC
South Carolina football coach Shane Beamer. Photo by: Katie Dugan | GamecockCentral
South Carolina football coach Shane Beamer. Photo by: Katie Dugan | GamecockCentral

On Saturday, South Carolina was on the road for an SEC matchup against the Ole Miss Rebels. Continued offensive ineptitude and stretches of poor tackling doomed the Gamecocks to their sixth loss in seven games. At the end of the night, the scoreboard read 30-14 in favor of Lane Kiffin’s team.

Despite Ole Miss not playing its A-game, Carolina couldn’t take advantage of numerous opportunities the Rebels provided. Because of that, Shane Beamer’s group fell to 3-6 overall and 1-6 in Southeastern Conference play.

With the game going about like many pundits believed it would and the South Carolina-leaning story looking nearly identical to the rest of the disappointing season, national reactions were limited. Unfortunately for the Gamecocks, Saturday’s results came as no surprise to most around college football.

The Insiders Forum: Discuss South Carolina football!

GamecockCentral’s Mingo Martin noted that ESPN analyst and former NFL player and front office member Louis Riddick was exceptionally critical of South Carolina football during the television broadcast. Riddick wasn’t impressed with quarterback LaNorris Sellers’ accuracy and decision-making. He called out some other players’ effort issues in the game, too. He was especially displeased with the USC offensive game plan, using descriptors such as “total failure,” “not well-coached,” “doesn’t make sense,” and “disjointed.” Riddick also pointed out that certain elements of the offense (route combinations, quarterback drop steps, and blocking designs) don’t match up with traditional offensive teachings. As much as he verbally thrashed the coaching staff (repeatedly), he didn’t let the players off the hook. Riddick said that most of the game, primarily on offense, was “poorly executed.”

CBS Sports’ Brad Crawford called South Carolina’s offense “the worst in college football.” He added that he believes “it’s not close.” USC is the only FBS team that hasn’t reached 350 yards in a game at least one time this season. The Gamecocks also haven’t scored more than 22 offensive points in a game. Against Ole Miss, Carolina managed just 230 yards and 14 points.

Again, there wasn’t much to like about the Gamecock offense on Saturday night. The lone highlight came in the third quarter when track and field All-American Nyck Harbor got behind the defense. Bussin’ with the Boys‘ JP Hovey, a South Carolina alum, was one of many Gamecock fans happy to see Harbor reel in a long touchdown for the second week in a row. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much else to celebrate on that side of the ball.

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Yahoo Sports senior writer Dan Wolken shone a spotlight on a tough reality for Carolina. He said that last year’s Gamecocks were “the most fun team in the country to watch.” Contrastingly, this year’s group has “become a very tough watch,” he said.

On3’s Andy Staples and Ari Wasserman barely addressed the on-field action in their instant reaction show. Instead, the duo concluded that Ole Miss is a virtual College Football Playoff lock following the win.

During his Week 10 instant reaction See Ball, Get Ball show, former All-American David Pollack had plenty of thoughts about the Gamecocks’ failures. He heavily criticized offensive coordinator Mike Shula, quarterback LaNorris Sellers, and the team as a whole. “Watching South Carolina and this team–they’re competitive, they stay in games–but it’s not pretty to watch.” He softened the blow slightly by reminding his listeners that the rival Clemson Tigers have also been bad.

South Carolina, mercifully, will be on a bye this week. The Gamecocks will not play again until taking on the Texas A&M Aggies on November 15th. That game will be in College Station.

The Insiders Forum: Discuss South Carolina football!