South Carolina concluded its home SEC schedule by beating Florida 17-12.
Breaking it down…1st Quarter…Florida received the opening kickoff just like last year. Unlike last year, they did not return it for a touchdown. On the second offensive play Stephon Gilmore blitzed and stripped the ball from Gator quarterback John Brantley. Devin Taylor recovered the fumble on the Florida 35. The offense couldn’t do anything positive with the ball and turned it over on downs after losing a yard. The defense forced a quick three and out giving the ball back to the offense on the USC 40. On third down Shaw threw to Jeffrey late, and the ball was intercepted. The Florida offense ran for large chunks of yardage and gained a first down at the 2. The defense stopped two runs for negative yardage and tackled a receiver short of the goal line on third down. Florida settled for a field goal and a 3-0 lead. South Carolina’s offense found a better rhythm and started to move the ball. They kept the ball mostly on the ground and mostly utilized Brandon Wilds.
2nd Quarter…After 4 first downs the drive ended with a missed 40 yard field goal. Florida picked up a first down and then punted. The South Carolina offense went back to the ground with similar success. After a fourth down conversion in their own territory, the offense moved down the field, and Connor Shaw ran the ball in from 10 yards out. UF picked up a first down on their next drive, but Rodney Paulk recovered a fumbled that Jadeveon Clowney had caused, and USC had the ball at the Florida 46. This drive used the same formulas as the last: pick up the first first down by converting on fourth down and run with Shaw and Wilds. 11 plays later Connor Shaw was running into the end zone again to give South Carolina a 14-3 lead.
3rd Quarter…South Carolina took possession at the 33 to start the quarter. On this drive they elected not to try to convert the 4th and 1 at their own 42 and punted. Florida’s offense moved the ball well and got as close as the 5 yard line, but they had to settle for a second field goal to cut the lead to 14-6. The Gamecocks then picked up a first down on a pass interference penalty but could do no more and had to punt. Florida’s next drive was aided in no small part by Gamecock mistakes. One third down stop was nullified by a pass interference penalty; another stop was erased for a roughing the passer penalty.
4th Quarter…Nonetheless the Florida offense wasn’t able to penetrate deep into Carolina territory, and they punted to the 13. The USC offense took over looking to let the defense rest some and get some points, but they couldn’t make a first down and punted to their own 49. Florida quickly scored after Rainey ran the ball to the 2 yard line on the first play of the possession. The Gator went for two, but the pass attempt was intercepted leaving the Gamecocks with a 14-12 lead. Bruce Ellington returned the ensuing kick off to the 42 yard line. The offense still couldn’t do much on the ground on the next possession, but Shaw found Ace Sanders down the sideline for a 46 yard gain. From there Jay Wooten made the field goal for a 17-12 lead. Florida made two first downs, but ultimately had to punt and kicked the ball into the end zone.
USC took over with 5:34 left in the game. The formula that worked in the first half started working again. Shaw and Wilds ran the ball, and the offense moved. Florida was forced to exhaust its timeouts, but the Gamecocks couldn’t get into field goal range. They punted the ball to the Gator 11 with 0:42 left on the clock. The crowd rose to their feet, and John Brantley came on to try to throw the Gators to victory. The coverage was good downfield and Brantley was forced to dump the ball underneath to outlets. This produced two first downs out to the UF 42. After an incomplete pass, Travian Robertson sacked Brantley to end the game.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F | |
| Florida | 3 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 12 |
| South Carolina | 0 | 14 | 0 | 3 | 17 |
Stars of the Game…Brandon Wilds…29 rushes for 120 yards…Connor Shaw…16 rushes for 88 yards, 2 TD, 81 yds passing…Ace Sanders 2 receptions for 50 yds…D.J. Swearinger…9 tackles (7 solo)…Stephon Gilmore, Melvin Ingram, Travian Robertson…each had 2 TFL and a sack…
What to Take Away from the Game…They did it again. They found a way to win in a game where they only completed 7 passes for 84 yards. That’s pretty impressive. After losing Stephen Garcia, Kyle Nunn and Marcus Lattimore for the season as well as several others for games here and there, this team has outperformed last year’s team. They sit at 8-2, 6-2. This time last year, the team was 7-3, 5-3.
For many fans, there is still some disappointment that a trip to Atlanta probably won’t be on the schedule. That’s fine because it’s an indication of how high these players and coaches have raised the bar. However, it shouldn’t be used as an excuse to diminish just how good of a season this team has put together. This team won 6 games in the SEC. No Gamecock team has done that in the SEC…ever. This team did it without several of the players it expected to have. When a team can sustain the kinds of personnel losses this one has, and win anyway, it’s an indication of depth and quality of the the team. More than that, it is an indication that Steve Spurrier is building more than a team; he is building a program.
This and That…South Carolina improves to 8-2, 6-2…They’ve won 6 games in SEC play for the first time ever…They went 5-0 against the SEC East for the first time ever…They join Florida and Tennessee as the only SEC East teams to do that….The Gamecocks moved up a spot in both polls to be ranked #14 this week….
Up next…USC plays The Citadel at noon on Sunday.
