South Carolina was expected to have its best team to pull an upset against a top 5 team in several years on Saturday against Georgia.

The Gamecocks, ranked No. 24 going in, had a seasoned quarterback and several key playmakers returning after they were lost to injuries last season. They had a visiting archrival with a talented but inexperienced team seemingly ripe for an upset, at least in a couple of analysts’ eyes.

But for the third year in a row, South Carolina couldn’t run the ball against Georgia. Saturday, the Gamecocks mustered 54 yards rushing. Last year, it was 43 yards. Two years ago, they had 30 yards.

What now?

On the players’ wristbands is a simple message: “Each week is a new season.” They already leaned on that motto moments after their 41-17 loss to the No. 3 Bulldogs on Saturday night.

“We are going to come in Sunday and we are going to make the corrections moving on to (this week’s game against) Marshall and that is the motto on our team, win, lose, or draw,” WR Bryan Edwards said.

Coach Will Muschamp’s repeated message Saturday night: “We’ve got a lot of football ahead of us,” and other variations, such as, “We’ve got to continue to move forward and get better. A lot of ball to play.”

“We’ll have a great opportunity tomorrow. We’re looking forward to it.”

“We’ve got a lot of football ahead of us. The big thing we need to do is be technical. Starting with me and all the way down with what we need to do to improve. We’ll put it all into Marshall next week.”

The Gamecocks were without pass rusher D.J. Wonnum, and his availability is unknown. Muschamp disclosed that Wonnum has a “ligament issue” which has caused swelling on the inside of his ankle.

Injuries will come and go, but the Gamecocks can’t let this spiral into other weeks of the season.

“I mean it hurt … just the way we lost, and I know I could’ve played way better,” DB Steven Montac said. “It hurt really bad. We can’t let it define our season, though.”

After playing Marshall, the Gamecocks visit Vanderbilt. After that South Carolina is at Kentucky, which won Saturday at Florida and has beaten the Gamecocks in their past four meetings.

Those games give the Gamecocks the chance to change the narrative, after they began the day as a dark-horse contender to win the SEC East. They can still wind up as the second-best team in the division.

For Muschamp, a signature win still eludes him in Columbia.

“We didn’t play to the best of our ability,” RB Rico Dowdle said. “What we put out there today is not us; it does not define us as a team. I don’t think the scoreboard really determines if there’s a huge separation at all. We have 10 games left to prove.”

One of the most forgiving fan bases in college football started leaving midway through the third quarter and clogged the exit ramps out of the stadium. By the end of the third, there were gaping holes in Williams-Brice Stadium.

Muschamp and offensive coordinator Bryan McClendon must answer to the new up-tempo offensive philosophy and the motto born after last season’s Outback Bowl win: “All gas, no brakes.” Muschamp said the strategy was to neutralize strong defensive lines they will see against Georgia, and later Clemson.

When it works, a fast system makes it harder for a defensive lineman to get back in position and get squared up to face a running back. But when it doesn’t work, an offense faces an uphill field position battle.

South Carolina held the time of possession edge at halftime, but Georgia ultimately won it 35:43 to 24:17 with a grinding running game in the second half. In the pivotal third quarter, Georgia outgained South Carolina 226-75.

Gamecocks QB Jake Bentley showed flashes, especially after trailing 14-0 early, but some of the same accuracy issues surfaced again. He was 30-for-47 for 269 yards, one TD and two interceptions, including an especially ill-timed pass in the end zone in the fourth quarter.

The Gamecocks have some things to build on, but a lot more to correct. How they handle that will define this season.