South Carolina Football: 3 quick thoughts from Week 8 LSU beatdown

1. The defensive line is a cause for concern

The defensive line has struggled all season and Saturday night wasn’t any different. LSU’s starting quarterback Myles Brennan was out with a lower-body injury and true freshman T.J. Finley got his first career start. Finley completed 17-of-21 attempts for 265 yards, two touchdowns and one interception and he wasn’t sacked at all.

As mentioned earlier, the Gamecocks allowed the Tigers to put 541 total yards on the book. It started in the first drive of the game after nearly seven and a half minutes of play and a 1-yard rushing touchdown by Finley. South Carolina was able to force LSU to attempt a field goal at the end of the first quarter and the Tigers took the early 10-7 lead.

The Tigers’ offensive line was able to put three more touchdowns up in the second quarter, one of which was an intercepted pass by Eli Ricks who took it for the six points. The Tigers had a 21-point lead going into halftime, 31-10. The teams exchanged touchdowns in the opening drives of the second half, but then it was all LSU until South Carolina’s final possession when it put up its third and final score of the game.

The fact that South Carolina outplayed the LSU defense statistically, but was unable to stop the Tigers from getting to the end zone is concerning. The Gamecocks posted a team total of 92 tackles as compared to 54 total tackles for the team for the Tigers, but they still let them put 52 points up.

This South Carolina team has been so unpredictable in the last few seasons, Winning games they shouldn’t win and losing those that should be easy wins. Something needs to happen within the program to institute change. These young men who come to the team in hopes of it being their next step to the NFL deserve coaches who can teach them and help them grow while producing on the field.