The 2018 college football season has not given the South Carolina Gamecocks what they wanted, and the margins for error are gone… but this team can still walk away from 2018 feeling it achieved close to what it craved.
By Matt Zemek
It must run the table in SEC competition to arrive at that point.
Yes, the Texas A&M loss was devastating after the Gamecocks nipped Missouri at the wire. The Kentucky loss will continue to linger over this season as the bad memory it was… and is, and will be. There is no shame in losing to Georgia. A&M and Kentucky cut very deeply for this team.
Yet, there is no time to look back and lament. South Carolina now prepares to face two teams it needs to beat in order to feel that the future of the SEC East is one which still involves the Gamecocks as a central player.
Beat Tennessee. Beat Florida. If Kentucky gets tripped up by Missouri this week and then loses to Georgia as it is expected to a week later, South Carolina could still tie for second place in the SEC East. Again, the margin for error is zero, but a sprint to the finish would make this season feel very different compared to alternative scenarios. The Gamecocks, rested and refreshed, need to make their much-needed off week pay dividends against a Tennessee team which seems like a much tougher opponent than it did a month ago.
1 – NO GIFTS
The spectacular fall of the Auburn Tigers reached its rock-bottom point against Tennessee at home. South Carolina can look at Auburn’s implosion as an example of “what not to do” against UT. Jarrett Stidham’s unraveling at quarterback was very much in evidence against the Vols. South Carolina needs the kind of responsible quarterback play which hasn’t always been in evidence this year. Ball security and sound decision making represent the foremost way for the Gamecocks to put together a convincing and superior display against the Vols. It is hard to see South Carolina sweating if it doesn’t make a single large-scale mistake on offense.
2 – PENNING IN JENNINGS
This isn’t bullpenning, which has been the new tactic in the Major League Baseball playoffs. This is simply penning in and containing Tennessee’s best offensive player. Jauan Jennings is a beast. He wins balls at the catch point. He wins in traffic. He is a problem. Tennessee does not have a large number of playmakers. Jennings is its most potent and dangerous downfield threat. The Gamecocks need to make sure they are ready to defend him on third and long and in other crucial situations which might arise on Saturday. Tennessee’s quarterbacks are still works in progress, but Jennings has made them look better. South Carolina has to know this is Tennessee’s best chance to score big in Week 9.
3 – FIRST BURST
The Gamecocks have had to scramble a lot this season. Whether in victory against Missouri or in defeat against A&M, they did not get off to a great start. A tendency to fall behind, if not addressed, generally catches up with teams. South Carolina got some rest. It’s time to make the first quarter a friend, not an enemy, for Will Muschamp.
Be the first to comment