| Herald-Journal
COLOMBIA – No coach or athlete would ever recognize the achievement of a moral victory after a defeat. South Carolina’s football program is no different.
But man, man, USC’s 17-10 defeat on Saturday to Missouri sure looked like one.
“I wouldn’t say it was a moral victory, but I would say that whenever we go back to the building, everyone’s morale will get even higher,” said linebacker Ernest Jones. “Everyone will be a little more focused next week than we were at last week with everything that was going on. “
The hitting continued at the beginning of a week that began with the dismissal of coach Will Muschamp. Four players opted out of the season (including three juniors), and two more key defenders were dismissed for the remainder of the year due to injuries.
It was a mess that even climbed a bit far from the field when cornerbacks Jaycee Horn and Israel Mukuamu, both likely NFL draft picks who left with three games left, took a little pressure on the USC fan base’s social media. . This led some ex-Gamecocks to fire at fans, leading to substantial boos to last year’s best player on the team – first-round defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw – when his image appeared on the Williams-Brice Stadium Jumbotron.
Sports director Ray Tanner was booed when his face appeared on the Jumbotron simply reminding people of the COVID-19 protocols at the stadium.
It was a rough week around Columbia.
More: Five conclusions from South Carolina’s 17-10 defeat to Missouri
Then star receiver Shi Smith suffered a possible concussion in the first series against the Tigers and was lost for the rest of the game, perhaps more. Missouri gained a 14-0 lead in less than five minutes of the second half, and it started to look like the USC was gearing up for yet another impending disaster.
Missouri hasn’t even played since Halloween because of a goodbye and postponement of COVID-19 and I wasn’t sure if I would have enough healthy players to make the trip to Williams-Brice Stadium. That was undecided until the end of the week.
The USC attack was struggling to reach the level of a sudden defeat for Texas A&M two weeks ago, when the unit recorded only 150 yards in total. Missouri looked set to gain a 21-0 lead at halftime, before the last blow was stopped at USC 2 and the Tigers settled for a field goal and 17-0 in the lead.
More: Four things you should know about quarterback Luke Doty
Missouri was not just winning. He was dominating, winning USC 212 yards (140 passes and 72 runs) to 68 (39 passes, 29 runs), averaging 5.4 per play against 2.3 USC. Missouri fired Collin Hill twice among his seven loss tackles.
Oh boy.
This one had all the ingredients to really go from bad to worse, possibly to a level that would inspire the city’s faithful to boo even the image of beloved Marcus Lattimore, should the legend of Byrnes and USC appear on the giant video screen.
But then Gamecocks exhibited something that seemed to vehemently lack in the last three games of Muschamp’s term. The team showed courage, courage and a lot of heart to a 2-5 team in anguish, in turmoil and apparently on the right path for the fourth consecutive defeat, without fighting too much.
The process suffered twists and turns in the second half, which recently were foreign to the USC squad. The defense kept Missouri goalless, yielding just 89 yards in the final two quarters. Freshman quarterback Luke Doty got off the bench to play the entire second half in the first long action of his first season.
He made a difference with his legs, living up to the surprising factor that his coaches gave him in the preseason. He also did not shy away from the contact, facing possible opponents and winning some rare prolonged applause at home. The fans were smiling again; the big screen showed some children dancing while their parents waved in approval, and while the team was almost winning, there was a different feeling in the second half.
The fans understood what their players had been through and certainly appreciated the effort, as they could easily have folded at halftime and produced another stink. It has been proven that the majority of this team is determined to play this season with nothing less than maximum effort. The guys who don’t want to throw in the towel are not hard to find.
One might ask why a guy like Sadarius Hutcherson’s fifth year senior left guard is still on the list. He had a chance to test the waters of the NFL last season before returning and could certainly be among those who made a quick exit after Muschamp was released and the season was on fire.
“As a senior, I know what adversity is, and at the end of the day, my people needed a leader,” said Hutcherson. “They admire me and some other players, and it just wouldn’t be right for me to leave. I’m going to finish. Mom and Dad always raised me to finish everything I started. That’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to finish these last two games as one man, regardless of whether we win or lose. I’m not going to trade these guys for anything in the world. “