Behind the Scenes: South Carolina vs Georgia State
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Special teams success lifts South Carolina to 35-14 win in season opener
By: Michael Sauls
After a slow start, South Carolina finally found its footing in the third quarter en route to a 35-14 win over Georgia State.
Neither team made any noise on the scoreboard until the second quarter and even then it wasn’t much.
The Gamecocks went into halftime up 12-7 after a one yard touchdown rush from MarShawn Lloyd and two field goals from outside of 50-yards courtesy of Mitch Jeter.
Lloyd’s score was set up by a fake field goal that saw long snapper and holder Hunter Rogers secure a first down with a solid five yard rush. Jeter’s first field goal was from a whopping 53-yards out and is now seventh longest field goal make in school history.
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With the exception of Georgia State’s opening drive and its first scoring drive, Clayton White’s defense was stellar. At one point, South Carolina held Georgia State to a combined nine yards across four drives.
The first half defense was highlighted by a three and out midway through the second quarter where Georgia State was held to zero yards.
Georgia State came out of the half firing on all cylinders, but only momentarily.
South Carolina got the ball to start the second half but quickly gave it right back to the Panthers after Spencer Rattler’s pass was picked off by Quavian White. The interception set up Georgia State’s second touchdown of the game when quarterback Darren Grainger scrambled four yards into the endzone.
Grainger scored through the air and on the ground, throwing for 111 yards and rushing for 43.
The Gamecocks were able to rally a few minutes later when they marched 75 yards down the field and Rattler found Lloyd for his first touchdown pass at South Carolina. The 16-yard reception was Lloyd’s second touchdown of the game.
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In true Beamer Ball fashion, special teams ended up being the deciding factor in the game. South Carolina special teams scored two touchdowns in the second half, the same amount as the offense scored the entire game.
Both came off blocked punts, one in the third quarter that Rashad Amos blocked and DQ Smith scooped and scored and another in the fourth quarter that Trae Kenion blocked and Ahmarean Brown scooped and scored.
Marcellas Dial intercepted Grainger in the fourth quarter to ice the game with a little over two minutes to go.
In the ensuing drive Luke Doty took over at quarterback for the Gamecocks, ending Rattler’s first official game as a Gamecock.
Rattler’s play was solid but wasn’t exactly spectacular, he finished the game with two interceptions and a completion percentage of 62%. He threw for 226 yards on 23-for-37 passing.
The offense has a whole showed sparks of life but still seemed to struggle to find consistent success throughout the night. South Carolina totaled 305 yards in the game on 69 plays, keeping its average yards per play to 4.4.
