South Carolina stays hot with last-second win against Missouri

By / Devy & College Football, SEC / Leave a Comment
South Carolina Football, South Carolina Gamecocks, The League Winners

Entering week 12, both the No. 23 South Carolina Gamecocks and No. 24 Missouri Tigers needed wins to keep their College Football Playoffs hopes alive. With two electric, top-25 teams facing off with the Mayor’s Cup (the battle of the Columbias) on the line, the game did not disappoint. Here’s everything that happened and what we learned from it.

First half domination by South Carolina

Despite multiple reports that Tigers’ starting quarterback Brady Cook wouldn’t be able to play this week due to wrist and ankle injuries, he suited up for Missouri,  although not at full health. South Carolina’s defense played a “bend, don’t break” style of football on their first two series. They held Mizzou to two field goals on back-to-back, 10-play, 57-yard drives.

Aside from that, though, the first half was all Gamecocks. They found the end zone first when Nyck Harbor ran through busted coverage, and quarterback LaNorris Sellers hit him in the end zone for a 27-yard score.

The ensuing drive for South Carolina featured three 4th-down attempts. While two were successful, the most important attempt was a giveaway on downs in the red zone.

The Gamecocks got the ball back immediately on a three-and-out (Mizzou committed two false starts due to stadium noise), but gave it right back on a Sellers interception. His first interception in four weeks was thrown too high, but didn’t cost South Carolina; that’s because the defense made another huge stand, forcing a 49-yard Blake Craig field goal try that came up short.

When South Carolina got the ball back, Harbor was the key to the drive again, hauling in a 46-yard catch and run on 3rd and 5. The drive was capped of by tight end Joshua Simon catching a wide-open touchdown, due to a beautifully sold fake handoff.

It looked like the Gamecocks would go into halftime up 14-6, but head coach Shane Beamer had other ideas. He used his timeouts aggressively, allowing the Gamecocks to get the ball back with 87 seconds and no timeouts to try to extend the lead to two possessions.

The Gamecocks were able to maneuver into Tigers territory, and set up the Costal Carolina transfer Jared Brown to take a screen-pass 38 yards to the house for his first touchdown as a Gamecock!

South Carolina led Missouri 21-6 at the half, and the game looked like could end up as a blowout. The Tigers were struggling to move the ball on offense and Sellers couldn’t be stopped throwing the football.

Mizzou’s second-half comeback

With all the momentum on their side from the first half, the Gamecocks proceeded to give it all up in the second half.

South Carolina started the second half on offense and went 41 yards before failing to convert on 4th and 4. This set up Mizzou to go 66 yards on their ensuing drive. The 10-play possession yielded their first touchdown of the game on a Marcus Carroll two-yard run. Mizzou failed their two-point conversion try, making it a 21-12 lead for South Carolina.

The Gamecocks followed that with yet another failed 4th down attempt from their own 37-yard line. Their third giveaway on downs featured no forward push from the offensive line on a quarterback sneak. The Tigers made it a one-score game with a 25-yard field goal by kicker Blake Craig.

South Carolina’s offense continued to seem lost on the following drive. The team went three-and-out, gaining no yards.

Missouri pounced on the opportunity for their first lead of the day, as they drove 66 yards in just four plays. A huge 49-yard grab from Marquis Johnson set up Nate Noel‘s one-yard touchdown rush.

Now trailing 22-21, South Carolina was in dire need of answers, as nothing in the second half was working. That’s when wide receiver Dalevon Campbell made the first of two great plays.

On a 3rd and 10, he took a 47-yard pass all the way down to the Mizzou 7-yard line. That set up freshman third-string tight end Michael Smith for a 5-yard touchdown catch on a beautifully placed ball by Sellers. The Gamecocks went for two to try to expand their lead to seven, but couldn’t convert it.

Dramatic ending

Down five points, Missouri scored on their fourth-straight possession in the second half with a ridiculous 37-yard touchdown grab by Luther Burden III. Jamal Roberts followed that up with a successful two-point conversion, running untouched up the middle to expand the Mizzou lead to three, 30-27.

Needing a miracle, South Carolina had 1:02 to go at least 40 yards to get into field goal range. After a first down pass to receiver Jared Brown, Campbell made his second important play of the game.

The wide receiver took a 39-yard catch and run down to the Tiger’s 21-yard line. Two plays later with 22 seconds left, Sellers shoveled a pass to running back Rocket Sanders. Sanders pinballed off defenders and into the end zone for the game winning touchdown!

Missouri only had two plays on their following drive, and they ended up as defensive highlights for the Gamecocks. The first was a Kyle Kennard sack, and the second a Jalon Kilgore interception to seal the win.

Final score: South Carolina 34, Missouri 30.

What we learned
The dream lives on

With this win, South Carolina keeps their dream of making the College Football Playoffs alive. To do so, they must win out in their final two games against Wofford and Clemson. Even then, they would only have a 34 percent chance of making the playoffs (according to ESPN’s Allstate Playoff Predictor). Even so, they are now at least assured a high-end bowl game barring any major surprises.

The defense isn’t always flawless

Despite only giving up six points in the first half, the defense played their worst half of football all season in the second half. Missouri scored 24 points, the Gamecocks only had two sacks, and there were a lot of missed tackles. South Carolina’s defense certainly looked tired towards the end, due to Mizzou’s long-lasting drives that wore them down.

Rocket Sanders is team MVP

It certainly wasn’t Sanders’ best day on the ground (19 carries for only 53 yards) but he turned things up when it mattered the most. On the game-sealing touchdown, Sanders showed the world how he got his nickname “Rocket.” His determined run summed up the fourth quarter from Carolina’s perspective. The team played with grit, fight, and soul, and battled their way back for the win.

Sellers is the program’s future

As of late, losing in the fourth quarter has been uncharted territory for Sellers and the Gamecocks. In this game though, Sellers showed his poise by staying calm and orchestrating two go-ahead touchdown drives late in the game.

On the day in total, he went 21 of 30 for an impressive 353 yards and five touchdowns. He has progressed faster than anticipated, and exceeded the expectations of just about everyone in his first year as the starter.

An unlikely hero

Coming into this game, Delavon Campbell had four receptions for 46 yards (27 of those yards came in mop-up time against Akron). Yet he led the Gamecocks in receiving yards in this contest, with 86 on just the two catches. Who could have guessed that the guy who entered the game at sixth on the wide receiver depth chart would deliver two of the most energizing and important offensive plays of the season?

The streak is over

The offensive line gave up their first sack in three weeks, when Johnny Walker Jr. got home to Sellers ending their streak of back-to-back weeks without letting up a sack. That was the only one though, and allowing just one sack in three weeks (all against AP Poll top-25 ranked teams) shows that the offensive line has been doing a great job protecting Sellers.

Carolina’s home-field advantage

South Carolina has historically been overlooked when the toughest road environments in college football are discussed. Now, the football world has begun to take note of the home field advantage that the Gamecocks get when they play at Williams-Bryce Stadium. Check out the following two videos to see (and hear) how much noise and energy Gamecock nation can bring!

Shane, what a job

Head coach Shane Beamer has led South Carolina to a 7-3 (5-3) record through 12 weeks. The Gamecocks have now beat an AP Poll top-25 ranked team three weeks in a row for the first time in program history. South Carolina went 5-7 last year and didn’t make a bowl game. Now they’re fighting for a playoff spot.

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