In South Carolina's loss to Florida, the offense put together 132 total yards on its first 10 possessions before putting together two lengthy drives at the end of the game. Over the course of the entire game, the Gamecocks amassed 43 rushing yards on 30 attempts, the longest of which was 11 yards from quarterback Jake Bentley.
Coming into the season, the offensive line was thought to be one of South Carolina's biggest strengths on a team that wasn't expected to have many. After 10 games, the Gamecocks have surrendered 33 sacks while the run game is averaging just over 110 yards per game.
Those two categories proved costly again Saturday, as Bentley was sacked five times and South Carolina averaged less than 1.5 yards per carry. David Williams was the leading rusher with 20 yards, and his 2.9-yard average per carry was the best among the three backs who played.
The struggles on the line didn't only cost the Gamecocks yards, either, as one of Florida's five sacks resulted in a fumble from Bentley, which the Gators recovered.
Will Muschamp says the offense put the line in a tough spot Saturday because of some of the situations they faced, particularly when the Gamecocks were behind the chains.
"That's a really good defensive front we're playing," Muschamp said. "We got in too many predictable down and distances to be successful against a defense like that."
When Bentley had time in the pocket, Muschamp said the freshman played pretty well, as he finished with 213 yards while completing 18 of 33 passes. Tight end Hayden Hurst said the quarterback had guys to throw to, but the lack of protection was an issue.
"Me, Deebo, Bryan and K.C. were getting open down the field," Hurst said. "There were some things in their protection that kind of went awry, but we'll get back in practice."