What We Learned: South Carolina vs Georgia

Yesterday, our South Carolina Gamecocks got beat in every single phase of the game by the Georgia Bulldogs. Let’s check out what we learned.

Who?

I didn’t like Deebo Samuel’s comment about Deandre Baker during the week, but I chose not the say anything about it. Well, now that Georgia put a thorough whipping on the Gamecocks I’ll come out and say it. As a player, keep your mouth shut during the week. Especially as a 10 point underdog. In the week leading up to yesterday’s game Deebo Samuel thought it would be a good idea to take a passive aggressive shot at UGA’s All-SEC cornerback Deandre Baker. The end result? Deandre Baker and the Georgia defense held Deebo to a grand total of 45 all purpose yards (although there were several defensive pass interference calls when Deebo was targeted). Georgia didn’t need any extra motivation this week and, it seems that based on Baker’s postgame reaction, Deebo’s comment provided just that.

Not Ready

Will Muschamp’s Gamecocks are still not ready to compete with the big boys. I know, call me Captain Obvious, but it’s true. Yea, the first half was competitive for the most part. Take away a pick 6 on Carolina’s first drive and it’s 13-10 at worst going into halftime. The second half was a different story as UGA scored 3 TDs on their first 3 second half drives and the Gamecocks responded with, well, two 3 and outs and an interception. Anyway, I’m not here to give y’all a game recap. My point is I think our lack of depth and, overall youth, caught up with us in the second half. Georgia is a legitimate national title contender and has clearly separated itself from the rest of the pack in the SEC East. I was one of the people out there that thought Carolina would compete against UGA. Actually, I picked the Gamecocks to pull the upset on the GABACast. I was wrong. The Gamecocks aren’t ready yet. They don’t have the players depth wise to hold up for 4 quarters against the elite teams around the country. Additionally, and this is in no way me saying Muschamp is or should be on the hot seat, but you have to find a way to win one of these games eventually. If you don’t, fanbases get impatient.

The Season Isn’t Over

Yesterday was more than disappointing. After an entire offseason and early season hype, Carolina fell flat on their faces. But at the end of the day, it’s one game. A 9 or 10 win season is still on the table. Yea, it might seem more difficult than it did a week ago (especially after the way Texas A&M played Clemson), but a double digit win season is still very attainable. Other than the Clemson game, I think every game on the schedule is winnable. You go 10-2 in the SEC and you’ll finish the year with a top 25 ranking and possibly play in a New Year’s Day bowl game. Do that, keep recruiting good players and keep the program moving in the right direction.

Obviously there’s a lot more I could write about but that’s all I have for this write up. What did you takeaway from yesterday? Come let us know in the comments. Go Cocks.