Columbia, SC — Looking at most of the key stats for the Gamecocks and Ole Miss game and you might think Saturday’s matchup was closer than it was. The final score is where it mattered most and the visiting Rebels came out on top 27-3. Between a lack of any passing game and 80 yards of untimely penalties, South Carolina only came away with a field goal in the second quarter.
“They’re a good defense, obviously. We knew they were going to be a challenge up front to block, and they got really good players,” USC Head Coach Shane Beamer, said after the game. “We wanted to be able to be able to get the ball out of LaNorris’ [Sellers] hands quickly and get the ball in space to our guys. They played a little bit differently than we expected them to, so that was a little bit of an adjustment that we had to make – just the way they were playing coverage and trying to just defend that in a little bit of a different way.”
The Gamecocks’ defense held Ole Miss to 325 total yards, but were put into difficult situations between a failed fake punt and turnovers on offense. “For the most part, I thought they did okay. I don’t think we got to take away, so that was obviously a disappointing part,” Beamer added. “We certainly wanted to be aggressive. We’re a pretty good team, and we’ve got a good defense, and we thought we could rely on them … [Ole Miss] is an up tempo offense, and it’s not so much thinking that [your offense has] to stay on the field to keep them from scoring.”
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Photo credit Chris Coffee.
