This loss to Alabama wasn’t so much of a moral victory as it was a revelation of what South Carolina has under the hood. The Gamecocks showed in Saturday’s 47-23 defeat to the Crimson Tide that they’re able to hang in the game against an elite team in college football.

“I don’t believe in moral victories,” WR Bryan Edwards said. “We lost today. I am a competitor and I want to win so we lost and that is what it is.”

Two South Carolina players — QB Ryan Hilinski and RB Rico Dowdle — showed that they could exceed expectations in the face of a daunting challenge. For Hilinski, it was a confirmation of what coaches and teammates said in the week since he became the starting quarterback. For Dowdle, it was the type of running not seen consistently since he was a freshman. Perhaps he’s inspired by the presence of new teammate Tavien Feaster?

Dowdle moved into 18th on the school’s career rushing yards list (1,920 yards) after he ran for 102 yards. It was his seventh 100-yard game of his career, which tied Brandon Wilds for 12th most in program history. What’s more, it was his first since the Tennessee game last year on Oct. 27. Since then, he’s had just 2 games with more than 80 yards rushing.

About Hilinski, Edwards echoed what Muschamp and other teammates said about the freshman since he took over for the injured Jake Bentley.

Hilinski was 36-for-57 for 324 yards with 2 TDs and an interception.

“He looked composed,” Edwards said. “He was calm. He did a great job of leading and he just does a great overall job. I’m just really proud of him honestly.”

Muschamp added that it’s another step in Hilinski’s development.

“We moved the ball well offensively, really proud of Ryan and the job that he did in the game,” Muschamp said. “He hung in there, and we’re going to try and score. What we need to do to improve offensively there late in the game, that’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to keep fighting, that’s who we are. He needs to get as many snaps as he can to continue to improve and grow offensively.”

Muschamp noticeably chose an aggressive strategy, beginning with an early fake field goal attempt that nearly worked and including a fake punt attempt and onside kick try. All of it was by design.

“We talk as a staff during the week about what do we need to do to win the game, so it’s not just about going for it on fourth down because we want to,” he said. “It’s about the situation in the game, it’s about field position, a certain punt look, or a punt safe look or a punt block look we get in the game, and we’ve got someone in the box saying, ‘It’s there.’ It’s all calculated risk on what we want to do. We felt like the field goal fake was there. After the first field goal attempt, we saw their look and they don’t change it up. We got the look we wanted.”

The Gamecocks play this Saturday at Missouri, which has won lopsided games against Southeast Missouri State and West Virginia after an opening loss at Wyoming. South Carolina has won three straight in the series, including last year’s rain-soaked affair in which another backup QB, Michael Scarnecchia, rescued the Gamecocks.

“We’ve got a good football team,” Muschamp said. “We’re 1-2; we’re not where we want to be; we’re not where we thought we’d be. But we have to continue what we’re doing; we have to pull together and get back to work tomorrow; and that’s what we’re going to do. We’ve got really good leadership on this team; that’s what this team will do.”