South Carolina, Tennessee meet in SEC matchup

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier said there’s enough blame to spread around for the Gamecocks’ failures this season.

Much of the heat has been directed at a Gamecocks’ defense that hasn’t recovered from losing five starters off last year’s stellar group, including NFL No. 1 draft pick Jadeveon Clowney.

Spurrier said last week’s 42-35 loss to No. 4 Auburn (No. 3 CFP) was a group effort with all areas having a hand in the result. The coach said, “The offense lost. The defense lost. The special teams lost. We all lost. The coaches lost. We weren’t good enough. It wasn’t one side of the ball or the other.”

That leaves the Gamecocks (4-4, 2-4 Southeastern Conference) with plenty to fix before facing Tennessee (3-5, 0-4) on Saturday night.