By The Numbers: South Carolina at No. 20 Missouri

With South Carolina's football team returning after a loss to Missouri in a tough SEC road game, the numbers tell a bigger story.

After a rough first half by South Carolina's offense and defense against the Missouri Tigers, they made small adjustments and did better in the final 30-minute stretch. In the end, however, it was too little, too late on the defensive side of the ball, and there wasn't enough offensively to get the Gamecocks back in the game. Here are some numbers that paint a bigger picture of the matchup:

0 Points Allowed in the Third

One of the keys this weekend for the Gamecocks to pull off the upset was to win the third quarter, which is what they did, holding Missouri to zero points and 40 yards on 14 plays defensively and giving up an average of 2.9 yards per play. What kept Shane Beamer's team from applying even more pressure in this game was that they couldn't find the endzone enough in this portion of the game.

Third Down Rates

Unfortunately, this is a statistic we have to continue to bring up after each of these games because it was a significant point of emphasis for this team at the beginning of the year. The offense only converted on three of their thirteen attempts offensively, while the defense allowed Missouri to convert seven of their thirteen 3rd down attempts.

Four Field Goals

This may be the most significant part of the game that sticks out the most numbers-wise. The Gamecocks scored on four of their eleven possessions, which typically would be a decent day. However, having to settle for three rather than seven was a real problem in making a comeback.

This game was a perfect storm of things you can't afford to do as a team if you want to pull off an upset on the road in the SEC. Between being unable to sustain drives and get off the field defensively, accompanied by not being able to capitalize on chances, South Carolina never truly gave themselves a real chance to grind their way back into this game. 

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