South Carolina Gamecocks vs. Florida Gators report card: Bad grades for Carolina in loss at the Swamp

Grading the Gamecocks after a 20-7 loss to Florida in Gainesville to drop them to 5-5 on the season:

Passing Game: C-

Jake Bentley wasn’t awful, but he wasn’t great (18-33, 213 yards, one interception) in this one. He misfired on several passes and didn’t really look comfortable until later on. The offensive line gave up five sacks and had a disappointing performance in this one. It’s clear that the Gamecocks were facing a tough opponent on the road, but the o-line was just one of the groups that didn’t look up to the task on Saturday.

Passing Defense: C-

Austin Appleby spread the ball around in this one: three receivers caught three or more passes and two (Antonio Callaway and Ahmad Fulwood) had 48 yards receiving. The Gamecocks get a C- in this department because they limited huge plays for the most part, but they still weren’t good enough today.

Running Game: F

The less said the better. It’s an F because we couldn’t go any lower. Gators defenders had 12 tackles for a loss as the Gamecocks managed just 43 yards on the ground. If you’re to be successful in this conference, you can’t have that lack of production.

Run Defense: D

The running game was an area of concern for the Gators coming into this one. Not today. Jordan Scarlett had a terrific day with 20 carries for 134 yards, a single-game high this season for the Gators and Scarlett’s career high. Carolina did a poor job stopping him, and they paid the price. (The defense was able to force RB Mark Thompson into a turnover, but that was one of the few positives.)

Special Teams: D-

Sean Kelly was basically the only redeeming individual in the special teams department, and Elliott Fry did his job on the extra point, so those two factors keep this from being an F. But the coverage teams were terrible. Antonio Callaway had a great day in the return department and would have had a punt return for a TD if not for a hold called on his own man. As usual, the Gamecocks’ return team was absent in the few opportunities they did get.

Coaching: D-

No creativity, no energy, very few adjustments from the staff on Saturday afternoon. The defense did look a little better in the second half, but the Gamecocks dug themselves a huge hole and failed to mix things up offensively while finding themselves unable to make the stops they needed to for most of the contest.