South Carolina football's biggest questions with three games to play

South Carolina football beat Vanderbilt 38-27 on Saturday in Nashville. The Gamecocks are now bowl eligible for the second straight season. It was the team's second SEC road win of coach Shane Beamer's tenure.

South Carolina's offense had a good performance against Vanderbilt. Quarterback Spencer Rattler had his first three-touchdown game of the season. The team is making changes and using its stars more often. They play Florida this week. The Commodores have lost 26 SEC games in a row. It's hard to trust the turnaround based on how inconsistent the offense has been.

South Carolina's defense has been struggling recently. The team's secondary has struggled with injuries. B.J. Gibson played significant snaps against Vanderbilt and made seven tackles. The defense needs to improve to be competitive against Florida, Tennessee or Clemson. It may just be a slump. But it needs improvement quickly to even be competive against the likes of Florida or Tennessee.

South Carolina has three games left. They play Florida, Tennessee and Clemson. The team's best-case scenario is 7-5. Most projections place the Gamecocks in the Liberty Bowl played in Memphis on Dec. 28. An extra win could bump them up into the Las Vegas Bowl on December 17 or the Music City Bowl in Nashville on Christmas Day.