For the 3rd time this season the Univ. of South Carolina Gamecocks have beaten a team with “bulldogs” as their mascot. This go round was a win against the Mississippi State Bulldogs on Saturday. The 16th-ranked Gamecocks put in a 38-21 victory against MSU in front of 78,883 at Williams-Brice Stadium. With the round of losses in the top 25 over the weekend, the Gamecocks should move up in the pulls to set up a great battle against Kentucky on Thursday.
To grade the keys to the game LOHD posted:
1. First the passing game has to Shine — Chirs Smelley threw for 279 yards and two touchdowns and he completed 19 of 37 passes and finished with the most yardage by a USC quarterback this season. I give the passing attack a “A.” Best we have seen this season.
2. Defense must play “lights out” — USC D held the run-heavy Bulldogs to 140 rushing yards and gave up 118 yards passing. The USC secondary got a interception and limited the MSU offense to 3.7 yards per play. It could have been better but they got the job done. I give them a “B.”
4. WR Play — The Carolina WR play was good with some good blocks and nice catches for the day. McKinley had 2 TD’s with 4 catches for 107 yards and J Cook got 4 catches also. Smelley made some bad throws yet the WR/TE made good catches and made something out of nothing. I give them a “B+.”
5. Special Teams and Succop must continue to be stellar — This was the difference maker this game. USC got a blocked punt during a much needed time, limited MSU Punt Returns to 0 yards and kick returns to 96 yards. On the USC side, SC had a PR TD called back on a penalty got 53 yards on punt returns and 109 on KRs. Hats off to Shane Beamer and his squad this game. I give them a “A+.”
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