UMass Minutemen at South Carolina Recap
It wasn’t pretty by any stretch, but Coach Will Muschamp got it done. The South Carolina Gamecocks (3-4, 1-4 SEC) scored a season-high 34 points and held the UMass (1-7) to 28. Steeled by losses at Gainesville and Starkville, the Minutemen were barely fazed by the crowd of 73,428. The Carolina defense made some plays early on, forcing three turnovers in the first half. Special teams left a lot to be desired. After a botched PAT, a turnover on a punt return, and a near disaster late in the fourth, Muschamp will surely re-evaluate.
Enter Jake Bentley
The big story this afternoon was the Carolina offense, or more specifically, Jake Bentley. Much of the buzz the past 13 days centered around the untried freshman quarterback. The early enrollee should have been playing at his high school in Spartanburg last night. However, he didn’t look the part of an upstart true freshman. Cool and calm, Bentley displayed excellent judgement well beyond his years. The first-timer completed 17 of 26 passes for 201 yards and two scores. Incredibly, that is double Carolina’s airborne touchdowns from the first six games of the season.
USC’s green coach is no doubt prouder than a kid with a new puppy about his revamped offense. Rallying around Jake Bentley and feeding off his poise and energy, the offense cranked out a season record: 395 yards of total offense. Bentley’s freshman counterpart Brandon McIlwain got a bit of action as well, netting 17 yards on the ground.
Up Next
The Gamecocks have now matched last season’s win total, and need to double that if they’ve want to go bowling. A total of give games remain on USC’s schedule. With another win under his belt, Muschamp now looks ahead to prepping his young team for their next match-up. His defense buckled and bent this afternoon against Minuteman quarterback Andrew Ford, but they didn’t break. UMass’s record may be poor, but it does not define their offense. They put an impressive five touchdowns on the board against Mississippi State.
With some adjustments, South Carolina may be able to give Tennessee’s Josh Dobbs and Jalen Hurd some trouble next weekend. Western Carolina and Mizzou are the two most winnable games after that, but the Florida will require an upset. Bowl eligibility may very well come down to a showdown in the Palmetto Bowl against Clemson.
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