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***2021 OFFICIAL GAME-DAY THREAD GAME #1: SOUTH CAROLINA VS EASTERN ILLINOIS***

Gamecocks lead Eastern Illinois 29-0 at halftime. Zeb Noland is doing one heck of a job being a game manager for the Gamecocks in Luke Doty's stead - he threw 10 -17 for 95 yards, FOUR (4) touchdowns and 0 INTs. ZaQuandre White leaped to the front of the RB group with his effort at the end of the half, to total 41 yards on 7 carries. MarShawn Lloyd had 30 yards in 8 carries, and Juju McDowell added 22 yards on 4 rushes. Four Gamecock receivers nabbed a touchdown each through the air - Josh Vann leads the way with 27 yds on 2 receptions, White also had 27 yds on 3 receptions, Nick Muse had 15 yds on 2 receptions, and Jaheim Bell had 11 yds on a couple of catches. OrTre Smith also had a 15-yd reception as well for his first field time in a long time.

The Gamecock defense overwhelmed the Panthers in the 1st half. They held them to just 41 total yards, and only 8 total rushing yds in the 1st half. They sacked the EIU QB twice, and intercepted him once.

We'll take more of that for the 2nd half, please. This is typically what we'd expect to see against a struggling FCS opponent in most seasons, but most seasons we'd also expect better results from ourselves than what we've seen the past 2-3 seasons. So it's been encouraging.....

 
ZaQuandre White tears off a 63-yard TOUCHDOWN!! And apparently there is NO flag on this one. It will stand! 39-0 Gamecocks, with 10:24 to play. White now has 133 rushing yds on 12 carries, to go with his 39 yds receiving, and a rushing TD and passing TD......

 
Some things to work on. But we actually took care of business against a team we should be easily. Haven't been able to say that in a number of years.

 
  • We played great on both sides of the ball
  • We built a lead against a team we were supposed to beat and even the second-stringers looked pretty good when they got PT
  • Both the players and coaches looked confident and like they were enjoying doing their jobs

I don't how we could have done it any better tonight.

 
Nice win!

Great to see second and third team players get in the game. Especially three quarterbacks. Would not have happened last few years. Experience is important for the future.

 
kingofnerf said:
First Gamecock HC to get a shut-out in his first game since 1944.

Who was that HC?
Click to expand...
Williams Newton: he was one of three head coaches who filled in with one-year tenures each, while Rex Enright joined the Navy during WWII. His debut win was a 48-0 victory over Newberry, and he went on to compile a 3-4-2 record in his lone season.

Enright himself started his career as Gamecock Head Coach in 1938, which would end at that position in 1955 minus those seasons in 1943, 1944, and 1945. He would then serve as Athletic Director until 1960. Enright's debut as Head Coach was a 53-0 win versus Erskine. We would go 6-4-1 that inaugural season.

The Head Coach that preceded Enright - Don McAllister - coached from 1935 through 1937, and he ALSO debuted with a shutout win against Erskine: this time with a 33-0 win. Poor Erskine was a punching bag for the Gamecocks back in the day - McAllister also opened the 1936 season with a 38-0 win against The Flying Fleet. Billy Laval, who preceded McAllister and coached the program from 1928 through 1934, also debuted with a 19-0 win over Erskine.

Branch Bocock debuted in 1925 with a 33-0 win over Erskine. Sol Metzger debuted in 1920 with a 10-0 win over - no, not Erskine, but Wofford. Dixon Foster beat Newberry 38-0 in 1917. And John Neff beat Charleston 8-0 in 1910.

That was probably more than you were bargaining for with your question..... :D

 
So what did we learn about us against an opponent like EIU? 
 

We did what we should do against an opponent like that. Defense should get some confidence and looked much better. I noticed some good open field tackling not shying away from hitting, pressure Qb. Hope they are much improved. 
 

On offense still think we need to establish a downfield presence. Zeb played well looked poised. 
 

Overall, I liked the product and am very positive with the start. But I don’t know what that means for our record based on just this game. 

 
Yeah, I don't think there's a big take-away in terms of future record, but I do think we saw much better play from pure excitement and aggressiveness than we've had the last couple of years.  Fundamentals seemed improved.  And if we can get that "most improvement" from game one to the second game, I think we may actually enjoy watching this team this year.

 
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