BATON ROUGE, La. — Throughout the week, things seemed to be going well for South Carolina football. But that situation always leaves a lingering sense that things might be going too well.
The Gamecocks got a new playmaker in Jalen Brooks. LSU had lost a starting quarterback in Myles Brennan. The defending national champions were reeling with a 1-2 start. Meanwhile, South Carolina had just pulled in a big win over a ranked Auburn team.
It seemed as if things might be too good to be true. With how South Carolina played for 60 minutes in Tiger Stadium, all the good vibes came crashing down.
The Gamecocks dropped a 52-24 game to an Ed Orgeron-led team that had taken upsets against Missouri and Mississippi State in two of its first three games. Missed tackles turned a third-down catch behind the sticks into a 51-yard score. A stared-down pick became a long pick-six.
"We got outcoached and outplayed. Call it like it is," Will Muschamp said afterward.
By the end of the second quarter, the Gamecocks (2-3) had been outscored 21-3. They had to play catch-up the rest of the day.
They got to within 31-17, then gave up a kick return TD, on a muffed return, to start a 21-0 LSU run.
The Tigers (2-2) had a quarterback seeing his first game action in T.J. Finley. He led his team on four scoring drives of nine or more plays (plus a five-play TD drive for good measure), and missed only four of his first 18 passes.
South Carolina was led by a fifth-year passer steeped in the offense, but he had as many completions as sacks taken (three) before the deficit was up to 21.
That period featured two missed Gamecocks field goals, an interception on each side, and South Carolina turning first-and-10 on the LSU 31 into a third-and-24.
The Gamecocks will be off next week.
