South Carolina Football: Loss to the Hogs Leaves Gamecocks Wondering 'What If'

After a tough loss to the Arkansas Razorbacks, the South Carolina Gamecocks dropped to 7-2 and handed over control of the SEC East to the Georgia Bulldogs.

The Gamecocks entered last night’s game with a top-10 ranking and control of their own destiny in the SEC East. After a heartbreaking 44-28 loss, South Carolina finds themselves taking a back seat to the Bulldogs.

The defense that had only allowed 55 points in the last six games let Arkansas light up the score board for 44 points, the most allowed all year by the third-ranked defense in the SEC behind LSU and Alabama. That number was slightly inflated because Connor Shaw had three costly turnovers on Carolina’s side of the field which set up the Razorbacks nicely.

However, for the first time this season, Shaw actually looked like a real quarterback, not some athlete who can just run. In the second half yesterday, he began to look comfortable in the pocket and Spurrier even called a deep play for the first time in two weeks. His second rushing TD on the night that came in the fourth quarter brought South Carolina to within three, but they did not score again for the remainder of the game.

If Shaw can build on his performance from last night’s game, not only will the offense run more smoothly, but Alshon Jeffery will also start to become more relevant.

With home games against Florida, the Citadel and Clemson remaining, a 10-2 season is not out of the question for the Gamecocks. Reaching the National Championship, which was slim before the loss to Arkansas, is gone, but if South Carolina wins out and Georgia loses to Auburn next week, the Gamecocks could still reach the SEC Championship.

At the beginning of the season, the Gamecock faithful had high hopes for South Carolina. The ultimate dream of winning the crystal ball might be gone, but repeating as SEC East champions is still within Carolina’s grasp. For a school that had not won anything of significance in the SEC before last year, a repeat trip to Atlanta would be a big deal.

So keep your head up Gamecock nation and make sure to cheer for Auburn next week.