COLUMBIA -- Everybody took a turn describing what that was.
Miscommunication. Lack of execution. First-game jitters.
Sure, but that still doesn't answer the question.
What was that? Seriously, what was that?
"No one is happy in this building with the offensive performance -- at all," South Carolina coach Shane Beamer summarized.
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The Gamecocks won their season opener, barely. They were outgained, barely, 305 yards to 288. Their running game was much improved over last year, but they still only averaged 3.1 yards per carry.
Mostly it was a repeat of 2023 without the handy excuses: The offensive line was injured and the Gamecocks didn't properly address their concerns at running back. The OL stayed healthy against Old Dominion, and top import Rocket Sanders bulled for 88 yards and a touchdown.
But the line leaked far too much, didn't get much push, if any at all, against the Monarchs and the play-calling appeared formulaic and uninspired. Yes, the Gamecocks won, and that was the main goal.
Yet in the postgame and this week, the underlying message was, "Play like that again and you won't be winning many more games."
"They take away a lot," Beamer said, crediting ODU's defense. "For the most part, we got to coach better, we got to execute better. You don't have 35 minutes time of possession and a 16-play drive, a 13-play drive, a 10-play drive and stink."
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The problems, listed:
Quarterback
LaNorris Sellers, the next big thing under center, was a mere 10-of-23 passing for 114 yards. He had no touchdowns, no interceptions and lost a fumble.
"It wasn't the best. I kind of played timid a little bit, kind of nervous, scared to make a mistake," Sellers self-evaluated. "I just got to go out there and play."
The junk defense ODU employed did have something to do with it. The Monarchs played with three high safeties that wasn't an easy look for a quarterback, especially one in his first start. The Gamecocks wisely wanted to run and run a lot.
But 22 carries for Sellers and 24 for Sanders was excessive. That can't continue if the two players are expected to last.
Running back
Sanders was the workhorse, while Juju McDowell carried twice for 16 yards, Oscar Adaway had four carries for 5 yards and receiver Jared Brown took an end-around for 16 yards. They played as well as can be expected, since ...
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... the line, despite being at full health, had as many struggles as it did last year. Beamer's comments this week have focused on how hard the offensive line played.
He didn't say anything about it playing well.
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There wasn't a lot of moving ODU off the ball. There were far too many failed blitz pickups and whiffed blocks. It's concerning that on more than one occasion, when the Monarchs rushed three and the numbers vastly favored the Gamecocks, there was still one man coming unchecked at Sellers.
"Not being together, everybody not being on the same accord," center Vershon Lee described as the issue. "When the call is made, everybody not being on the same thing, not being at the same spot at the same time."
Receivers and tight ends
The most publicity they got was when Beamer called them (and the running backs out) for not blocking on the perimeter. Dre Jacobs made a couple of tough grabs, but the rest spent the day reaching for air on Sellers' short or overthrown passes.
Brown and Brady Hunt each dropped passes.
"Those are just catches I have to make," Brown said. "I would say we did want to go deep, that was part of the game plan. Everything's not really going to work out the way you think it is."
The talent-stocked tight end room that Sellers was going to have as a cushion wasn't used as a receiving threat. The Gamecocks were hesitant to work the middle of the field, with many passes either going deep downfield or screened to the sidelines.
Coordinating
That brought offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains into the conversation. Rather, into the crosshairs of online vitriol.
Every man on earth simply knows he can coach great offensive football, but even discounting that, yeah ... what was that?
Loggains stood up for Sellers, saying that he looked like a guy making his first start. He also admitted that USC didn't have nearly enough explosive plays in the passing game and the offensive line gave up too many jailbreak sacks on some things "we just lost."
So is there a major scheme change coming for this week? Some revelatory tweak that will fix all of the problems?
The likelihood of repairing all that in a week to face a different defense is low. But whatever happens, it won't be the players' fault.
"If your player doesn't execute the way you want them to, that starts with the coach first. For us, it's about having better practice," Loggains said. "There's a saying: 'Practice execution equals game day reality.' It's us coaching better to help our players execute better."
Kentucky waits on Saturday, a Wildcats squad with a formidable defense playing on its home field and having lost two straight in the series. The common thought is, "That offense has no chance of winning on Saturday."
The Gamecocks don't plan to take "that" offense.
"The biggest issue with us was we just missed our shots downfield. Not happy with the way we played: We have a standard around here that we want to play with -- we weren't where we need to be," Beamer said. "I know it's not what anybody wants to hear, but when you watch the tape, I was excited. Lot of correctable things."