South Carolina lost one of the wackiest football games of the year on Saturday. In a contest that included eight sacks, four fumbles, three interceptions, a safety and a recovered onside kick, the Gamecocks fell 27-25 to No. 7 Alabama.

Here are five things we learned.

1. This is a top defense in the SEC

The title of this could also be: Kyle Kennard.

Kennard was unstoppable on Saturday, so destructive that there were a number of plays designed for Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe was running bootleg plays to whatever side No. 5 in white wasn’t on.

And when the Tide didn’t do that? Well, Kennard was there. The Georgia Tech transfer racked up 7 tackles, 3 tackles for loss and a pair of sacks. All day, Alabama was trying to find the antidote to Kennard … and, still, somehow he bolted at Milroe untouched a few times.

But he was just the icing on a pretty solid all-around defensive permanence — which is weird to say in a loss.

Yet, South Carolina was the first team all season to hold Alabama under 35 points. It limited the Tide to just over 100 rushing yards. And Milroe — a Heisman frontrunner two weeks ago — looked average. He threw for 209 yards, but was picked off by Jalon Kilgore and OD Fortune.

Saturday wasn’t quite as remarkable as the Kentucky game, considering the opponent and the quarterback, but it again proved South Carolina might have one of the fiercest defenses in the SEC.

2. Turnovers are a massive problem

South Carolina quarterback LaNorris Sellers played, probably, the best game of his college career on Saturday.

In just his second time starting away from Williams-Brice Stadium, the redshirt freshman completed 23-of-31 passes (74%) for 238 yards and two touchdowns. He finally showcased his deep-throw ability, hitting Mazeo Bennett on fourth and nine then connecting with Nyck Harbor with under a minute to play.

And, yet, the story of his day is the turnovers.

Sellers lost two fumbles and threw an interception. The pick could maybe be excused — he heaved a long pass with 12 seconds left, but it never had a chance.

The fumbles, though, are harder to gloss over. In just five games (he missed the Akron contest), Sellers has lost the ball nine times (Bueller? Bueller?) and lost three. That’s not, ‘Oh, they got me at the perfect time,’ or, ‘Gotta just secure the ball.’ That’s a concerning trend.

How does he plan to fix that pattern?

“It’s probably just a mixture of having a clock in my head, taking a sack when I need to take a sack,” Sellers said. “Just having the balance of trying to make a play and taking a sack when I need to take a sack.”

3. Should there be a kicker competition?

I truly don’t know the answer to this question. I assume the minds of special teams gurus Shane Beamer and Joe DeCamillis know more about kicking then me. They watch the group of South Carolina kickers every day. They will put the guy out there who gives them the best shot to make kicks.

But it has now been twice that, with the game on the line, South Carolina starting kicker Alex Herrera has missed.

He failed to connect on a 48-yarder as time expired against LSU. Then on Saturday, with the Gamecocks down a point with six minutes to play, his 51-yard attempt sailed right.

On the season, the sixth-year Gamecocks is just 8 of 12 (67%) on his kicks. From beyond 40 yards, he’s 4 of 7 (57%) and his season-long make was from 46 yards.

Yes, South Carolina probably didn’t expect longtime starter Mitch Jeter to transfer to Notre Dame. Still, if the the best kicker on South Carolina’s roster can’t hit from 50 yards, that’s an incitement on recruiting.

Perhaps South Carolina will create an open kicking competition this week. Or, perhaps, they already have and Herrera is still the best option.

4. Gamecocks need to win despite their OL

The team that had given up the most sacks in America allowed its quarterback to go down four times on Saturday. It was the continuation of a theme and, yet, it wasn’t what cost South Carolina the game.

Think about it: Milroe was also sacked four times and Alabama was tackled behind the line of scrimmage twice more than South Carolina (nine times) ... and the Crimson Tide still won.

At this point in the season, it would be naive to expect the Gamecocks’ protection is going to drastically improve, so you have to start thinking about other options. How do you work around the offensive line? More bootlegs? More quick passes? More quarterback runs?

Also, in any conversation about the offensive line, it’s hard to know exactly how much blame to put on the linemen and how much should fall on Sellers for holding onto the ball too long. The two-point conversion is a good example. Beamer and multiple players said South Carolina had the look it wanted. Then, one extra guy came and the whole thing was blown up.

Was that on a blocker for missing an assignment or did Sellers need to throw the ball sooner? It’s hard to decipher the correct answer but, in any case, the Gamecocks need to learn how to score even if its protection can’t hold up very long.

5. Nyck Harbor can catch

It’s a shame there was no time to appreciate the best moment of Harbor’s young career, a moment that didn’t include the words fast, speed or track.

With under a minute remaining and South Carolina trailing by eight, Sellers needed a miracle. He heaved the ball to the end zone, where the sophomore wide receiver snatched it and someone managed to get a cleat in bounds.

It was just Harbor’s second-career touchdown and first against an SEC opponent.

Problem was: There was no celebration. All attention went to the ensuing two-point conversion, which the Gamecocks didn’t convert.

But it was a nice moment for Harbor, who has all the athleticism and freakishness in the world, but only sees the field in spurts.