It seemed as if nothing went right for the Gamecock football team in its most recent 24-3 loss to the Ole Miss Rebels. From the team’s first possession to the last, the mistakes kept piling on for the Gamecocks.  

Unlike its loss to LSU earlier in the season, it never felt like South Carolina was in this game after failing a fake punt on fourth and one and fumbling on the following drive. Ole Miss capitalized with two touchdowns off of those turnovers and never looked back. 

The Gamecocks had chances to get back in the game, but something would go wrong whenever they got close to putting up points. South Carolina made it into Ole Miss territory six times but only scored once, coming away with three points. Three turnovers on downs, a fumble, an interception and a missed field goal prevented the team from scoring more. 

‘The most disappointed I’ve ever been as a head football coach with the way we played,” Gamecock head coach Shane Beamer said after the game. “We talked all week about being the most poised and disciplined team, and we were undisciplined, to say the least, and that starts with me as the head coach.”

Beamer said during practice and film study the team continuously emphasized playing clean football and forcing Ole Miss to be the more penalized team. Instead, it was the other way around, with the Gamecocks being called for multiple infractions, including four offside penalties and two offensive pass interferences. 

Aside from the self-inflicted mistakes, the team’s offense was stagnant. The Gamecocks finished with 313 total yards of offense but made it to the red zone just two times and walked away with no points. The team had one play that went for more than 20 yards, a 30-yard run by quarterback LaNorris Sellers. 

Sellers finished 20-32 in the air for 162 yards, no touchdowns and an interception. He added 55 yards on 15 rushing attempts to lead all Gamecocks. Seller was sacked six times against the Rebels, the most given up this season, and said it would take an entire team effort to strengthen the passing game. 

“O-line, receivers, us being all on the same page, getting separation, being able to throw it, trusting them,” Sellers said. 

The Gamecock defense gave up 425 yards to Ole Miss. After a strong start, forcing a three-and-out, the defense’s back was against the wall following the botched fake punt and fumble. Ole Miss swiftly took the momentum and held it all game. 

South Carolina made plays on defense, but they were often undone by a penalty. All four offsides calls came on an Ole Miss third down. A third-down sack by freshman phenom Dylan Stewart was undone after he pretended to shoot Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart. Despite these errors, defensive back Jalon Kilgore was overall pleased with the unit's effort. 

“I think the defense played pretty well,” he said. “We kept on putting the ball down. On one of those big plays we ended up with them only getting three, so I felt like we played pretty good. But we still got things we need to clean up so we can be close to perfect.”

South Carolina will need to play close to perfect next week as the team is set to travel to Tuscaloosa to play Alabama for the first time since 2009. The Gamecocks are 3-3 in their last six meetings against the Crimson Tide, but they’ve played just once in the past 13 seasons. 

Like Ole Miss last week, Alabama is entering its matchup with the Gamecocks fresh off a massive upset. The Crimson Tide fell to Vanderbilt for the first time in 40 years and lost their spot at the top of the AP poll because of it. 

The Gamecocks and Alabama are set to kick off at noon this Saturday. The game will be broadcast on ABC.