The South Carolina and Troy football teams are each coming off stinging losses entering their game Saturday in Columbia, S.C.
While the Trojans (2-2) were upset on the road, the Gamecocks (2-2) dropped a winnable home contest against Southeastern Conference East rival Kentucky. South Carolina committed a barrage of errors in its 16-10 setback.
A pair of late-game fourth-down failures were particularly painful. Overall, South Carolina finished 0-for-3 on fourth down, and just 3-for-12 on third down.
“We’ve got to continue to get better each and every week,” South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer said. “I’m not happy with the performance Saturday night against Kentucky, at all … in all three phases. And coaching certainly has to be better.”
The Gamecocks likely will roll with sophomore Luke Doty at quarterback. Per Beamer, wide receiver Xavier Legette should be available Saturday, while defensive back Carlins Platel was limited in practice Tuesday.
Doty has completed 30 of 51 passes for 311 yards and two touchdowns with an interception this season.
“I’m glad (Doty) is out there battling and is as tough as he is,” Beamer said.
Meanwhile, Troy is trying to move past its 29-16 loss at Louisiana-Monroe, its first setback in that series since 2014. The Trojans had previously recorded two double-digit wins and a 21-13 loss to Liberty to start the season.
Troy was penalized 10 times for 90 yards and had an interception run back 96 yards for a touchdown in the loss to Louisiana-Monroe.
“We were very undisciplined … which is something I’m very disappointed in,” Troy head coach Chip Lindsey told the team website. “We typically are really good with penalties and turnovers and things … we were a very undisciplined football team and that’s obviously my responsibility and something we’ve got to go to work to fix quickly.”
Troy is accustomed to outpassing its opponents, with an average advantage of 269.2 passing yards compared to 146.8 passing yards allowed, 10th best in the nation. Taylor Powell is completing 69 percent of his passes for 1,008 yards and seven touchdowns against three interceptions.
