A few quick thoughts on on South Carolina’s stunning 21-20 loss to Mizzou Saturday night:

What It Means: SEC Championship and College Football Playoff hopes are likely over for the preseason Eastern Division favorite after a gut-wrenching home loss, one of the toughest to stomach during the Steve Spurrier era in Columbia. The Gamecocks were in complete control defensively and managed a 20-7 lead with seven minutes to play before it all unraveled in front of a sold out crowd.

What I Liked: South Carolina’s defensive performance sans the final two possessions. The Gamecocks forced twice as many punts in this one as they did the first four games combined and kept an inept offense within striking distance of Mizzou throughout the contest. When South Carolina finally built a two-possession lead on Pharoh Cooper’s acrobatic touchdown with 7:25 left, the Tigers seized momentum with a three-play scoring drive then benefited from an immediate three-and-out before the game-winning march.

What I Didn’t Like: Play-calling and offensive line play. Mizzou’s first-half touchdown was a gift-wrapped present courtesy of Steve Spurrier. Facing a 4th-and-1 from his own 42, Spurrier elected to go for it on the game’s first possession, calling a zone read handoff to Brandon Wilds who was stuffed for no gain. Mizzou scored four plays later. Spurrier on the questionable play-call? “We thought could get a yard.” Several other times, specifically on third down, the play-calling was brutal on offense with routes being stopped in front of the mark to gain. Spurrier also ‘didn’t think about’ a two-point conversion try in the fourth quarter that would’ve made it a 14-point game. South Carolina’s usually efficient offensive line was beaten often off the snap by Mizzou’s bevy of pass rushers often. Quarterback Dylan Thompson hit the ground more times during the game than he did in any contest up to this point.

Who’s The Man: Pharoh Cooper, again. The standout sophomore caught three passes for 52 yards and what appeared to be the game-sealing touchdown between defenders in the fourth quarter. He was also South Carolina’s best blocker on the boundary and kept the Tigers honest in the Wildcat formation.

What’s Next: The Gamecocks will try and pick themselves off the turf and prep for a road trip to Lexington next week. Kentucky snapped an 18-game SEC losing skid on Saturday against Vanderbilt, 17-7.