The questions were the same, but Will Muschamp and his players struggled to find answers. Again.

Saturday’s 26-23 loss to Texas A&M was South Carolina’s eighth straight against a top 25 team. The tune was largely the same as in past performances, particularly recently: Quarterback Jake Bentley could have played better, but it wasn’t all on him. Wide receivers, for example, had a rash of dropped passes.

Penalties again were an issue, this time to the tune of 12 for 117 yards. That has been a recent theme as the Gamecocks had nine last week, 11 against Kentucky and eight against Vanderbilt. They had 105 rushing yards, but they needed 40 carries to do it, a paltry 2.6-yard average. On third down, they converted just 3 of 13 attempts.

“Just too many self-inflicted issues,” coach Will Muschamp said.

The inevitable questions were answered with shrugs and little clarity, except to say that they’ll keep plugging away. Like it does against Kentucky, South Carolina now has a five-game losing streak against Texas A&M.

As strong as the third quarter was for South Carolina, a 16-3 edge in points, the rest of the game, a 23-7 edge for A&M, showed little resemblance to that period. Case in point was the fourth quarter, when Texas A&M held the football for all but two minutes and 43 seconds. Overall, the Aggies held the ball for 41:29 and ran 77 plays for 458 yards. The Aggies outgained the Gamecocks 458-299, and Muschamp admitted that the Gamecocks wore down a little.

“We need to get out of the gate faster, that’s for sure,” Muschamp said. “Something we’ll look at in the off week.”

Credit: Jeff Blake-USA TODAY Sports

In a series of questions to Muschamp and the players, many wondered how South Carolina could look so polished in the third quarter but so pedestrian in the other three.

“We just said enough was enough and knew we had to go out there and play better,” Bentley said of the third quarter turnaround. “That’s what’s frustrating, knowing we battled back and fought hard and still came up short.”

“We squandered that opportunity to score in the red zone, whether it was a field goal or touchdown,” Muschamp said. “Those are the frustrating things for us to overcome right now, and our guys continue to battle and put ourselves in position at the end to have an opportunity and didn’t get it done. That’s the bottom line.”

Muschamp referred to Bentley’s early interception, but he could have pointed to several other aspects of the game.

“We had some wonderful opportunities out there to take advantage of, so it’s frustrating,” Muschamp said.

Questions immediately turned to changing quarterbacks, and at least one media outlet opened a poll for fans to vote for Bentley or backup Michael Scarnecchia. A narrative that began in the first half with a quick-trigger mentality to dump Bentley quickly shifted blame to the wide receivers, who by the end of the third quarter had nearly completely absolved Bentley from any blame.

“He put us in a position to win the game,” Muschamp said. “We need to play better around him.”

The Gamecocks now enter the bye week 3-3 and 2-3 in the SEC. They will return to action Oct. 27 against Tennessee.

There’s no shortage of activity, and Muschamp proudly declares that his players will always put forth a strong effort no matter how the scoreboard looks on a given Saturday.

Bentley, for one, has taken up that mantra.

“I just wanted to do whatever it takes,” he said. “Whether it’s jumping over a guy, running through a guy, just whatever it takes to win. I think that’s the mind-set of everyone on the team, and that’s why it’s frustrating when you lose.”

Once again, the question remains: When will effort translate to results?