What Will Muschamp said after South Carolina held on against UMass

Was Saturday the beginning of a new era of South Carolina football?

That sure looked to be the case as true freshman quarterback Jake Bentley sparked the Gamecocks’ offense to its highest single-game point total of the season in a 34-28 win against Massachusetts. He went 17-of-26 for 201 yards and a pair of touchdowns in his first career start.

Bentley was the biggest storyline as South Carolina improved to 3-4, but here’s what else coach Will Muschamp had to say about the win:

Will Muschamp: "Good win. We needed that."

— David Cloninger (@DCTheState) October 22, 2016

Muschamp jokes that he's not sure some of his players have ever had a 20-point lead, so that's why they didn't handle it well.

— Will Helms (@whelms21) October 22, 2016

Muschamp not happy with defense's play. Says they didn't handle their 1st 20-point lead of the season well #Gamecocks

— Matt Dowell (@TheMattDowell) October 22, 2016

Muschamp says McIlwain will continue to challenge Bentley. Nothing is set in stone.

— Bobby Balboni (@Rob_Balboni1) October 22, 2016

Muschamp says Brandon McIlwain "will continue to challenge" for time at QB. Adds "what theyre doing is very hard, playing as freshmn in SEC"

— David Caraviello (@dcaraviello) October 22, 2016

Muschamp says he uses Sunday to scrimmage his players that don't play a lot on Saturdays. Explains how they were able to evaluate Bentley

— GC Game Updates (@GCgameday) October 22, 2016

Muschamp on defense: "We didn’t have a lot of mental intensity. We got up 27-7 and relaxed."

— David Cloninger (@DCTheState) October 22, 2016

Muschamp on defense: "The frustrating thing for us is, a lot of those things were repped. … There wasn't a lot of carryover."

— David Caraviello (@dcaraviello) October 22, 2016

Muschamp says he discussed the redshirt with Jake and Bobby. He says both were for yanking it.

— David Cloninger (@DCTheState) October 22, 2016

Muschamp said A.J. Turner had been "banged up" before today's game. Also said he felt like David Williams and Rico Dowdle deserved time.

— GamecockCentral.com (@GamecockCentral) October 22, 2016

Will Muschamp asked if Bentley has Connor Shaw-type potential: “Let’s just take one day at a time. We beat UMass. It gets tougher next week”

— Mike Wilson (@MikeWilsonAJC) October 22, 2016

Muschamp: "Bobby Bentley is not involved in who is the Quarterback at South Carolina." #Gamecocks

— Matt Dowell (@TheMattDowell) October 22, 2016

Muschamp on McIlwain's mom's FB post: "Brandon and I are on the same page. Every parent has my number." #gamecocks

— Matt Dowell (@TheMattDowell) October 22, 2016

Muschamp on DJ Smith: "He's fine." Said it looked like he hyperextended his knee. But he returned.

— WIS News 10 (@wis10) October 22, 2016