CHARLOTTE, NC — The offseason was kind to South Carolina.

Riding high from routing top-5 Tennessee and ending Clemson’s 40-game home winning streak, the Gamecocks faithful and much of the SEC media looked past a tightly contested Gator Bowl defeat to Notre Dame and embraced optimism. Billboards dotted I-77, I-95, and I-26, declaring that a “Sandstorm” was coming to Charlotte, and the Gamecocks were picked to finish 3rd in the SEC East, behind only 2-time defending national champion Georgia and last year’s Orange Bowl winner, Tennessee.

Warranted or not, the Gamecocks even received 3 first-place votes in the East, the first time since the Spurrier era a single media member picked the Gamecocks to win their division. Confidence was high in Columbia.

The vibe feels different after Saturday night’s disappointing 31-17 loss to No. 21 North Carolina at Bank of America Stadium.

Spurrier, the former Florida and South Carolina coach, used to call it “talking season” for a reason.

There’s fertile fodder for all, and it’s a fun time of year for the message board genius, but once toe meets leather on opening night, you have to prove it.

The Gamecocks proved only to be a team with lingering questions in Charlotte on Saturday night.

That Shane Beamer’s program took a step backward against a North Carolina program that the Gamecocks defeated in 2021, in another Duke’s Mayo game, shouldn’t be lost on anyone.

Two seasons ago, that bowl win signaled South Carolina’s bursting, burgeoning hope for the future under the magnetic Beamer.

Saturday night, it was the other Carolina, led by Beamer’s coaching elder, Mack Brown, that looked like a program not to underestimate.

The Gamecocks? The Beamer era still feels hopeful, but this team has plenty to address, and not much time to do it, with a trip to Athens in just 2 weeks.

It starts — and the success of this team will be defined — by whether they can improve up front.

In Charlotte, South Carolina was swarmed and succumbed to a sandstorm of Tar Heels pressure.

North Carolina registered 16 tackles for loss and sacked Spencer Rattler 9 times, hurrying him on several other occasions. Keep in mind, UNC had just 17 sacks all of last season.

Rattler, to his credit, stood tall and threw for 353 yards, avoiding pressure when he could and giving the Gamecocks a chance to win. But when you give up 9 sacks and go 4-for-14 on 3rd down, it’s tough to beat a quality opponent.

A Gamecocks offensive line that gave up 31 sacks a season ago looked porous for four quarters. It wasn’t just newcomers Sidney Fugar and Jaxon Hughes who looked slow and behind the pace in their first starts since transferring in to play at a higher level. The unit’s veterans, Jakai Moore and Vershon Lee, each surrendered a sack, a sign of expansive issues up front. Compounding matters, starting tackle Cason Henry was injured on the first drive and didn’t return, making a young, inexperienced group even thinner.

Beamer seemed stretched for answers after the game.

“I don’t know why we played so poorly up front,” Beamer said. “It was not good enough. We have to play better and coach better. It was everything. We would slide to where they were bringing pressure and someone would get pressure anyway. They rushed 3 late and we gave up a sack on a double team. It’s ridiculous to do that.”

The Gamecocks couldn’t run the ball, either. A season after finishing 106th in the country running the ball, the Gamecocks were held to just -2 yards on Saturday night. While much of that negative yardage came from Rattler sacks, South Carolina’s leading rusher was Dakereon Joyner, who had 23 yards and averaged less than 2 yards per carry.

Once again, Beamer seemed confounded by the problems.

“We thought we had a good plan to run the ball and it wasn’t good enough. It wasn’t just the offensive line, either. We had 2 big runs in the first half if we hit one more block and our tight end got beat on a cut-off block. That’s Day 1 stuff and we have to coach better,” Beamer lamented.

To coach better, they need to call plays better, too.

It was an inauspicious debut for new offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains, who brought NFL credibility to the Gamecocks sideline but whose offense sputtered at crucial moments all night Saturday, converting just 4-of-18 3rd and 4th downs and sputtering out in the red zone on multiple possessions in the second half.

The game wasn’t without bright spots.

South Carolina’s defense battled, picking off 2 Drake Maye passes in the second half to give the Gamecocks short fields and a chance. Debo Williams had a career high 14 tackles and looked like he was picking up on the sideline to sideline work that made him a big part of the team’s late season flourish a season ago. And WR Xavier Leggette is a great football player, capable of winning 1-on-1s down the field and making big plays in the open field. He displayed both talents in hauling in 9 passes for a staggering 178 yards.

The Gamecocks have also earned the privilege of being respected.

Brown gushed about South Carolina’s program after the game, and spoke of telling his kids to “play up” to the level of South Carolina if they hoped to win.

“I told our team to make sure you understand that South Carolina is really good,” Brown said after the game. “I told them that while we were losing games down the stretch last season, South Carolina was beating Tennessee and Clemson and they had a chance to beat Notre Dame, too. We prepared to play a good team and we told our guys to walk out of that locker room knowing they beat a really good, well-coached football team.”

Make no mistake, South Carolina has earned that respect, and it is a privilege to be the hunted, not the hunter, even in a game where North Carolina came in ranked and South Carolina came in as a team “Also receiving votes.”

Earning respect, and keeping respect, though, are two different things.

This Gamecocks team earned the chance to be discussed all offseason.

Now 0-1 during the season, the Gamecocks have work to do to stay in the conversation.