South Carolina vs. Georgia: Offensive Grade Report
South Carolina's offense has dealt with their fair share of struggles this season, but Saturday's performance was widely disappointing. They scored one garbage-time touchdown, but aside from that didn't threaten for most of the game.
The issues were wide-spread and everyone shares blame. Fans pinned most of their criticism on offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield, but the players also struggled to execute.
The Gamecocks have two weeks to correct their issues before they head into the most challenging part of their schedule. They must develop a rhythm against Charlotte and South Carolina State if they have any aspirations of remaining competitive with the likes of Tennessee, Florida, Texas A&M, Kentucky, and Clemson.
Spencer Rattler's Woes Continue
Quarterback Spencer Rattler had his worst game in the garnet and black against Georgia. Things started ugly and got even worse; Rattler's tendencies tell us he has little to no trust in this offensive line.
According to PFF, the offensive line allowed him three seconds to throw on average, which is all you can ask for against that fearsome Bulldog front. However, he scrambled eight times and routinely reached extreme depth in his drop backs.
He isn't trusting his eyes and instincts, which is apparent from pre-snap to post-snap. While the line isn't full of world beaters, they have consistently improved over the first three games. Rattler's struggles have little to do with the group up front.
Play Calling Warrants Questions
The most concerning development on this offense continues to be the play-calling. The Gamecocks repeat simple concepts weekly, allowing defenses to key in on their tendencies based on formations and personnel groupings.
Furthermore, the situational play-calling was head scratching. On the first third down of the game, South Carolina had mounting momentum and were coming off a nice timing throw from Rattler. Yet, the coaching staff pulled Rattler off the field and ran a quarterback power with wide receiver Dakereon Joyner.
They ran the ball on third and long multiple times, which is less than useless against one of the best run defenses this sport has to offer. Multiple coaches share blame, but the process needs to be re-examined and altered.
Run Game Finds Some Positives
If there is one positive takeaway, the running game find some things conceptually that they can carry over. Running back Juju McDowell showed some juice in the open field, ruining pursuit angels and capturing the edge on several runs.
South Carolina ran some wide-zone concepts that they executed, an encouraging sign against a defense that is horizontally dominant. Teams aren't usually able to seal against Georgia, but the Gamecocks did on several occasions.
Saturday was promising for a team that struggled to run the ball against the likes of Georgia State. One common critique of this offense for the first two games was their inability to keep defenses guessing; if they add a consistent rushing attack, things could improve.
Overall Grade: F
There's no way to sugarcoat this one. McDowell was the lone bright spot on an otherwise abysmal day. The Gamecocks need to watch the tape and throw it away, because letting this game stay with you would be a mistake.
One silver lining is that you can learn more about yourself in failure than success. Things couldn't have gone much worse, but they can correct these problems over the next two games to prepare for an all-SEC schedule down the stretch.
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