South Carolina vs. Florida: After Further Review

What caused South Carolina's dismal performance against Florida, and how can it be corrected moving forward?

The Florida Gators took South Carolina's defense up and down the field on Saturday afternoon. At the same time, the Gamecocks' offense was the equivalent of a car engine that couldn't start no matter how times you turned the ignition.

I re-watched the game to see how Florida eviscerated South Carolina on the ground and why the Gamecocks' offense couldn't get out of the starting gate.

Poor Eye Discipline

This has been a reoccurring theme in certain aspects of the Gamecocks' defense all season but has become much more prevalent since the Missouri game. 

Both second and third-level defenders are having difficulty deciphering any horizontal offensive concepts. It allows their opponents to incorporate these into their game plan as eye candy and actual plays, causing South Carolina defenders' heads to spin.

This spurred the Gators to a 374-yard rushing performance, their largest total in a single game all season.

Repetitive Play Calling

There's no question that running backs MarShawn Lloyd and Christian Beal-Smith being out for this SEC East battle limited what the Gamecocks were going to be able to do in terms of their ground attack. 

Despite that, there were times when it felt as if South Carolina was repetitive in terms of their play calling, which could've made it easier for the Gators' defense to diagnose what was happening.

There were multiple instances where tight end Jaheim Bell, in particular, would run it up the middle on two straight plays and potentially gain four collective yards in the process. 

These kinds of sequences can make fans call into question what exactly the thought process was in certain moments with the offensive playcalling, which leads me to my final point.

Florida Out-Coached South Carolina

When a team loses a game, as the Gamecocks did on Saturday, everyone will pay the most attention to what happened in the game itself, leading to all of the preparation before game day getting lost in the shuffle.

What stuck out to me the most when watching this game back was how clear, and concise Florida's strategy was. The Gators' coaching staff did an excellent job tailoring the plan around the team's strengths.

Florida head coach Billy Napier has done a good job this season but has been outschemed several times. South Carolina's staff needed to prepare their squad better, and they fell short on Saturday afternoon.

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