The South Carolina Gamecocks picked up their fourth win of the season Saturday afternoon in dominant fashion, knocking off SEC newcomer Oklahoma 35-9. After dropping their last two matchups, Shane Beamer’s team went into a hostile stadium and dominated the Sooners in all three phases of the game.
Carolina desperately needed this win to get their season back on track, and the players delivered. The Gamecocks put together their most complete game of the season when it mattered most. With the week seven victory in the books, let’s take a look at some of the key takeaways from the Gamecocks performance.
Gamecocks’ Defense Remains Dominant
Facing off against a depleted Sooners’ offense, the Gamecocks’ defense feasted. Carolina defenders forced four turnovers on the day, with two in the first quarter being returned for touchdowns. Junior defensive back Nick Emmanwori led the way in turnovers, recording two interceptions with one taken back for six.
The Gamecocks’ pass rush also had a monster game, as they sacked Oklahoma quarterbacks Michael Hawkins Jr and Jackson Arnold a total of nine times. To top it all off, Carolina defenders also recorded a season-high 13 tackles for loss in the game. When asked about his defense’s dominant performance, Beamer had nothing but praise for his players.
“Those guys were hunting today defensively,” Beamer said. “I guess we had nine sacks today which has never happened to an Oklahoma offense in the history of their program. If that is inaccurate, I apologize to all Oklahoma people. I was told that they have never given up nine sacks in a game. We certainly gave a game ball to the whole defense.”
The collective game ball was certainly warranted for this unit. We’ve seen this Carolina defense be more dominant than just about any in recent memory, and Saturday was another testament to this. With more big games to come, expect the Gamecocks to remain ferocious on defense.
Sellers Takes Another Step
While the Carolina defense may have carried the day, the offense certainly didn’t disappoint either. One player in particular really shined in the game, and that was redshirt freshman quarterback LaNorris Sellers. We have seen Sellers struggle to find consistency early on, but Saturday looked like another turning point for the budding star.
Sellers completed 16 of his 24 passes for 175 yards and one touchdown and also picked up 28 yards on the ground. While these certainly aren’t Heisman-winning stats, the young quarterback faced down a formidable Oklahoma defense and didn’t blink.
Perhaps the biggest positive of his performance was the lack of turnovers. Sellers has struggled with ball security all season, and Oklahoma came into the game leading the conference in takeaways. Sellers and the offense protecting the ball was a massive part of their victory, and Beamer echoed this sentiment.
“We did a great job of protecting the football,” Beamer said. “Coming into this game, that was huge. When I say the key was to dominate the turnover battle, it was because Oklahoma was, coming into this game, I believe No. 7 in the country in taking the ball away, and we were 12, so it was going to be critical – whoever won the turnover battle, in my mind, was going to win the football game. And the key was to dominate, and we dominated.”
The improvements we have seen from Sellers over the past several weeks have been massive. The growing pains were evident early, but each week the young gunslinger is becoming noticeably more comfortable in the pocket. If he can continue to grow at this rate for the rest of the season, next year could be truly special.
Massive Answer from Carolina
After last week’s heartbreaking loss to Alabama, it was apparent that the Gamecocks were at a crossroads. Two excruciatingly close losses along with a blowout to Ole Miss had essentially eliminated any hope of crashing the College Football Playoffs. The team had a choice to make, either stay on the canvas or get back up and fight.
Saturday showed this team still has fight, and a lot of it. Going on the road in a hostile environment and putting on the performance they did was a statement. A statement that says “Hey, we’re not going anywhere, and every team we play is going to get our best shot.” Beamer echoed this in his post-game presser as well.
“Just so happy for our players to come off the heartbreak of last week and to respond like we did today was really freaking awesome to watch,” Beamer said. “I think there was very much a mentality with our players after last week of enough is enough. We know what kind of team we can be. It is time, we talked about, we have been banging on the door. It is time to kick the door down. We certainly kicked the door down today. “
Final Thoughts
Wins like this are what establish the culture of a program. Coming off of back-to-back gut punches and dominating a conference opponent on the road is a massive testament to the mentality this team possesses. It also helps set the precedent for how this program conducts its business, for the rest of this season and beyond.
Now, the Gamecocks will have another bye week to get healthy before welcoming a rolling Texas A&M team. Knocking off the Aggies is sure to be a much taller task, but it’s not an unwinnable game. If the Gamecocks show up with the same mentality they did against Oklahoma, then they can definitely beat A&M.
