South Carolina’s offense struggles against Ole Miss. What went wrong?

It was clear that South Carolina needed to put points on the board to keep pace with Ole Miss’ high-powered offense.

But that didn’t happen.

Instead, the Gamecocks failed to score a touchdown in a game for the third time under coach Shane Beamer. It happened once in 2021 and again in 2023.

This time they were at home with a prime opportunity to make a statement and get a marquee win under their cap.

That didn’t happen, either.

From the start Saturday, the Gamecocks’ offense sputtered. Beamer knew they needed to come out fighting from kickoff against the No. 12 Rebels, and the play calling reflected that.

“We certainly wanted to be aggressive when you go into a game that the other team’s offense is explosive,” Beamer said.

After a three-and-out on their first drive, the Gamecocks dialed up a fake punt, hoping to catch the Rebels defense off guard.

They did not.

Ole Miss sniffed it out, taking over in Gamecocks territory, and scored shortly thereafter.

“Thought we had a good call,” Beamer said. “It’s something we’ve been repping since August as well. Not very good on my part. Certainly wish we could have that one back.”

Similar to the struggles USC has faced this season, the self-inflicted wounds didn’t stop there.

On USC’s second drive, backup quarterback Robby Ashford fumbled on a read option play, giving Ole Miss another opportunity to score.

Later, starting quarterback LaNorris Sellers, who was making a return from injury this week, threw an interception in the end zone, compounding USC’s inability to finish drives in plus territory against Ole Miss. He finished 20 of 32 for 132 yards with the one pick.

Penalties hurt, too. Two offensive pass-interference calls derailed drives, both coming on third down.

One that came in the third quarter on receiver Mazeo Bennett Jr., deep in Ole Miss territory, turned a manageable third-and-short into third-and-forever, resulting in a punt instead of a chance to close the 17-3 gap at the time.

“We talked all week about being the most poised and the disciplined team, and we were undisciplined to say the least today,” Beamer said.

Sellers struggled to connect with his receivers all night. Relentless pressure came from the Ole Miss defense and forced him to scramble often. Also, USC pass-catchers had a hard time creating separation with their routes.

Receiver Jared Brown had a tough day as well. He dropped his third pass of the season on a first-quarter target. Then, on another third-down play late in the second quarter, he had an opportunity for an easy first down. He tripped and fell untouched after catching the pass from Sellers, which forced another punt deep in Gamecock territory.

“Certainly there’s some detail things that we have to clean up from a route-running standpoint throughout the offense as well,” Beamer said. “And we’ve got to be able to continue to get open and make those competitive plays too when LaNorris does give us an opportunity.”

Running back Oscar Adaway III got his first start, finishing with nine carries for 34 yards. Meanwhile, Raheim “Rocket” Sanders, who’s been the featured back since transferring to USC, rushed a season-low eight carries (excluding the Akron game, where he rushed once before an injury).

The Gamecocks went 5 of 16 on third down, and only made three trips to the red zone, scoring once.

Beamer credited the Ole Miss defense for complicating things for the Gamecocks.

“The game plan was: We are who we are on offense,” he said. “We run some triple option; we get the ball on the perimeter; we run the football; we take shots downfield. We wanted to be able to be able to get the ball out of LaNorris’ hands quickly and get the ball in space to our guys.

“They played a little bit differently than we expected them to, so that was a little bit of an adjustment that we had to make. ... I thought we played, from what I saw, decent in the second half, and that’s what’s frustrating.”