South Carolina Football: Really? Why All the Panic over One Bad Quarter?

Consider this another one of my infamous vent pieces. 

I don't understand why these ridiculous Gamecock fans and media talking heads are already panicking!  South Carolina beat East Carolina the way they were supposed to, and did it running away. 

For god's sake, anyone who knew anything about football knew that East Carolina would score.  That's what they do.  The key to beat them is to beat them in a shoot out, which South Carolina did in a fairly easy fashion towards the end. 

South Carolina had one terrible quarter.  That's all.  From the second quarter on, South Carolina looked like the team they were supposed to be, scoring 56 points and making key stops on defense. 

I have already pointed out the positive signs shown from the ECU game in an article you can find here.

There were plenty of positives to take away from the game. 

Are there some issues?  Certainly.  The pass defense must improve (and will when the Gamecocks get some of their top players back, starting with Devonte Holloman next week), and the turnovers must be stopped (but seriously, how often do Marcus Lattimore and Stephon Gilmore fumble).  

But other than that, the offensive line played okay, the offense clicked with Garcia in the game, and the defensive front seven looked as good as advertised.

So seriously, quit worrying about the season coming off of a 56-37 win against a team in ECU that does have some serious talent (not all world, but they aren't Florida Atlantic). 

The second through fourth quarters showed exactly what type of team these Gamecocks can be... so for now... relax. 

We will know more next week.