On the first offensive play of the second half on Saturday against Texas A&M, running back Ty’Son Williams took a handoff and went 34 yards.

There weren’t many positives in the 24-17 loss for the South Carolina offense. But coach Will Muschamp is starting with those kinds of plays as he and the coaching staff this week plan to fix the struggling offense.

“Maybe it’s backwards of how I look at it,” he said of looking for positives first. “We’ll start there and continue to improve. Are there tweaks? I don’t think you make wholesale changes in a week. There are some bright spots that we have been able to accomplish.”

Muschamp acknowledged the 23 yards rushing against the Aggies on 26 carries, but also noted the sack yardage lost that made those numbers look worse. Other positives have been the Gamecocks’ run-pass option plays, and play-action passing, which both have a run element to them, at least as a foundation.

“There are some positive things. Is it where we want to be? No. It hasn’t been good enough, and it’s not productive enough,” Muschamp said. “You have to stay balanced in this league, you can’t become one-dimensional, so we’ve got to find more balance in what we do. Whether it’s getting on the perimeter more and continuing have ways to run the football.”

The lack of running game has played a part in play-calling, as offensive coordinator Kurt Roper can’t call up-tempo sequences without a first down. Muschamp noted the team has 12 three and outs in the last 26 possessions in SEC play. That led to Texas A&M leading the time of possession battle by nine minutes, including when the Aggies had the ball for some 20 minutes in the second half.

“That’s a problem,” Muschamp said. “We’ve got to get off the field on defense, that’s number one, but you’ve got to maintain some drives offensively. There’s no question that’s a negative, and it’s our inability to get off the field defensively and maintain consistent drives offensively.”