South Carolina’s Defense Was in Position… They Just Didn’t Finish

The final score says South Carolina gave up 41 points to Mississippi State. The All-22 tells a more complicated story. Carolina wasn't consistently getting schemed out of position. On a lot of Mississippi State's successful plays, Gamecock defenders were where they needed to be they simply didn't finish the play. In this defensive All-22 review, we're breaking down: *Why tackling was the biggest issue on film *Plays where Carolina was in position but failed to finish *Two “can’t happen” breakdowns that resulted in huge plays *Where Carolina’s pass rush continued to win up front *How Kamario Taylor created problems when tackles weren't finished *How Mississippi State created favorable matchups for Anthony Evans III down the stretch *The difference between a bad defensive call and poor execution of the right one That's an important distinction. There were two plays where Carolina simply cannot have the breakdowns it had. But on several others, the defense had somebody there with an opportunity to make the play. They just didn't make it. And late in the game, Mississippi State found something else getting Anthony Evans III into matchups they liked and taking advantage of them. So this isn't just a “Carolina's defense was terrible” film review. It's about tackling, execution, matchup hunting and a handful of catastrophic mistakes that turned otherwise defendable plays into points. #Gamecocks #SouthCarolinaFootball #GamecockFootball #All22 #SECFootball #CollegeFootball