Thumbs up, thumbs down: Quick reaction from South Carolina’s win over Troy

Here’s a quick look at what went wrong and right for South Carolina in the Gamecocks’ 23-14 to Troy on Saturday.

South Carolina thumbs up

Luke Doty: Doty’s poise in his fourth career start at USC cannot be understated, as the Gamecocks’ sophomore quarterback completed 20 of his 34 passes for 255 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions. Doty finished the Troy game with his highest number of completions, attempts and passing yards in a single game, solidifying himself as USC’s leader under center for 2021.

David Spaulding: The transfer linebacker from Georgia Southern caught South Carolina’s eighth interception of the season and the third brought back for a touchdown. The Gamecocks went into Saturday ranked No. 6 in the nation and tied for first in the Southeastern Conference with seven picks. The interception came at the perfect time for USC, as Troy was driving close to the end zone just before halftime. Spaulding’s 74-yard interception return was USC’s longest of 2021.

Tight end involvement: Be it four-star class of 2022 tight end prospect Oscar Delp taking a visit to Williams-Brice Stadium, but Doty certainly threw to the Gamecocks’ tight ends against Troy. E.J. Jenkins caught the Gamecocks’ first touchdown of Saturday, and three tight ends — Jenkins, Jaheim Bell and Nick Muse — combined for 11 total targets and six catches for 96 yards and a touchdown.

South Carolina thumbs down

Missed opportunities: South Carolina’s offense was once again given chances to capitalize on long drives and favorable field position, but twice was unable to turn big opportunities into touchdowns. In their first drive of the game, the Gamecocks made it all the way to the Troy 5-yard line before stalling out for an early field goal. In the third quarter, South Carolina was able to block a Troy punt to set up at the Trojans 23-yard line, but a 7-yard sack saw the drive go for negative yardage. Parker White made his 48-yard field goal attempt — but both drives had 14-point potential go for 6.

Third-down conversions: Once again, the Gamecocks failed to convert on a majority of their attempts on third down, converting 4-of-13 for 30.8%, slightly better than last week’s 3-of-12 for 25% on third down. South Carolina had an average of 9.9 yards to go on third down and was 1-of-4 on attempts of third-and-9 or more yards.

Penalties: Yellow flags piling on the field didn’t bode well for the Gamecocks’ offense early, with six penalties stunting offensive rhythm in the first half. A targeting call on defensive back R.J. Roderick saw the senior safety ejected in the third quarter. Roderick will also be forced to sit out of the first half of the Tennessee game because of the penalty. Two Gamecocks, C Eric Douglas and CB Marcellas Dial, were called for personal foul penalties against Troy, and DL Zacch Pickens was called for a 15-yard roughing the passer penalty. South Carolina finished the game with 10 penalties that pushed them back 93 yards.

This story was originally published October 2, 2021 at 7:00 PM with the headline "Thumbs up, thumbs down: Quick reaction from South Carolina’s win over Troy."

Augusta Stone

The State

Augusta Stone covers South Carolina Gamecocks women’s basketball, football and other college sports for The State. A winner of the Green Eyeshade Award from the Society of Professional Journalists, Stone’s work has been featured in Sports Illustrated, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and The Charlotte Observer. Stone graduated with a degree in journalism from the University of Georgia.