South Carolina Shows Signs Of Improvement

South Carolina had been poor in several faucets into the Kentucky game, but turned in their best performance in all regards Saturday night.

So many components go into winning a football game, many of which are lost in translation. Two components that the Gamecocks have struggled mightily in to start the season have been 3rd down offense and defense, as coming into Saturday night, Carolina had converted 36.4% of their third down attempts while allowing their opponents to convert 41.8% of their third down opportunities.

South Carolina, however, showcased an ability to extend their drives by successfully converting six of their fourteen third down attempts, the second-best mark in a single game all season.

"Yeah, the one to Brooks was huge in the 3rd quarter… we threw it on time, and he ran forever… but that was huge," Beamer stated after the game. "I thought Spencer did a great job in the second half of just kinda improvising when things weren't there and hanging in the pocket a little bit more… and a couple of times when they had it covered, he was just able to dump it down to the back as well."

The Gamecocks forced twelve third downs on the other side of the ball. They only allowed three conversions, their best performance against a power five opponent all season, which Beamer noted was necessary for this contest.

"Coming into the game for us, we knew we needed to be better on third down, and defensively we needed to get off the field on third down, and we did a really good job of that tonight also."

South Carolina had four sacks entering action, one of the lowest marks in the FBS. The Gamecocks, however, made life miserable for Wildcat QB Kaiya Sheron in Kroger Field, racking up six sacks.

"They did a great job; we challenged them," Beamer stated. "I called them out in the team meeting on Tuesday... I told them I keep telling people how the defensive line is the strength of our defense, and it's time to show it... They continue to get better."

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