WILLIAMS-BRICE STADIUM: South Carolina had fought 4th-ranked Alabama to a 22-22 tie for over 58 minutes of their 29-22 loss in Columbia Saturday night. The Gamecocks had the ball, and the ball was in the hands of their best player, quarterback LaNorris Sellers. Then, the type of play that has haunted Gamecock football for over a century happened.
Looking to move the ball down the field for what might be a game-winning field goal, Sellers, on a keeper, had the ball ripped from his hands at the Gamecock 38. Five plays later, the Gamecocks allowed Germie Bernard to score on a 25-yard run instead of waiting for Alabama to kick a walk-off field goal.
Nyck Harbor returned the ensuing kickoff only to the nine, and with USC out of timeouts, the game ended with a sack of Sellers at his own twelve.
With ten minutes to play, the Gamecocks owned a 22-14 lead. They capitalized on an Alabama turnover on a punt return, with Sellers scoring on a ten-yard scamper.
Alabama responded with a 79-yard, 14-play drive capped by a four-yard pass from Ty Simpson to Bernard. Simpson hit his tight end Josh Cuevas for the two-point conversion that tied the game with 2:16 left.
Sellers’ ill-fated fumble happened three players later.
That wasn’t the only big turnover by the Gamecocks. On their second possession, Sellers tossed an outlet pass to Rahsul Faison out of the backfield. The ball bounced off of Faison’s hands and into the hands of Alabama defensive back DaShawn Jones, who returned the interception 18 yards for a touchdown.
It was also a game of missed opportunities for USC. Their first possession of the game reached the Alabama four, but they had to settle for a field goal by William Joyce. Joyce later missed a 47-yard field goal. And in the second quarter, Sellers saw a 13-yard touchdown run wiped out by a holding call on right tackle Tree Babalade. The Gamecocks had to settle for another Joyce field goal.
The Crimson Tide escaped the Gamecocks for the second straight season to stay unbeaten in the SEC, while the Gamecocks suffered their third straight loss, all in the SEC, and are 3-5 overall and 1-5 in the league.
The Gamecocks went 1-3 at home in SEC games, with the only win coming against Kentucky. Their final two league games will be next weekend at 8th 8th-ranked Oklahoma, and on November 15th at 3rd-ranked Texas A&M.
Final Stats
My View from Williams-Brice Stadium
Gamecock Postgame
I would like to know WHY #1 on the Carolina Defense didn’t try to push the runner that scored Alabama last TD out of bounds or tackle him. #1 just ran up to the runner and held up his hands like he didn’t want to touch him. #1 could have possibly saved the game for Carolina.
Their thinking was Alabama was going to run the clock all the way down and kick a field goal on the final play to win. By letting him score the touchdown, the Gamecocks would get the ball back with some time left and could attempt to drive and score and tie the game. But the kickoff return set them way back and then they could do nothing with their final snaps.