South Carolina Football: 3 takeaways from shootout loss to Ole Miss

South Carolina football and Ole Miss both came into this game with a 2-4 record and faced a must-win situation, in which the Rebels won.

The South Carolina Gamecocks traveled to Oxford to face Ole Miss on Saturday night. This was a must-win game for both teams as they both entered this week with the same record at 2-4.

South Carolina’s offense has regressed following their shocking victory over Auburn, and Mississippi has the worst defense in the SEC (not that South Carolina’s is much better).

If it were not for the era of COVID-19, and the presumed safety of coaching positions, it is questionable if Will Muschamp would even still have a job, especially following the blowout loss to Texas A&M last week.

What’d we learn from the Gamecocks’ shootout loss to Ole Miss?

3. The game wasn’t decided until late

This game would come down to the stronger and more consistent team on both sides of the ball. Neither team came into this game with a great reputation for their defenses and both teams entered the game with the mindset they needed to run the ball effectively.

On paper and on the field, the two teams seemed to be evenly matched.

At the end of the first quarter, both teams nearly had possession of the ball for the same amount of time, with Ole Miss keeping the ball for 58 seconds longer than South Carolina. Ole Miss put more yards on the stat sheet in the first quarter. By halftime, Ole Miss dominated the Gamecocks in passing yards, 219-89, but the Gamecocks put more rushing yards on the board, 149-110.

Ole Miss ended up with 708 total yards at the end of the game, dominating passing yards, 513-230. However, the Gamecocks owned the Rebels in rushing yards, 318-195, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the Rebels.