Late fourth quarter touchdown gives Florida win over South Carolina

The opportunity was there for South Carolina to pull away from Florida. All it needed to do was put together one more good drive and it would be on its way to a win.

But on a third down play with under three minutes to go in the fourth quarter, Spencer Rattler’s pass was short of the first down marker. Fourth down.

After moving deep into South Carolina territory, Florida quarterback Graham Mertz found his receiver Ricky Pearsall open in the end zone for a 21-yard touchdown.

Just like that, South Carolina’s double-digit lead was gone.

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In what was a battle from start to finish, South Carolina couldn’t slam the door and it paid the price. The Gators did more in the end and won 41-39 Saturday afternoon.

One of the biggest questions coming into Saturday was if South Carolina (2-4, 1-3 SEC) could stop the run. It struggled doing so in Gainesville last year, and it was the same story from the game’s first drive.

The Gators drove down the field in nine plays, capped off by a three-yard touchdown run from Trevor Etienne.

On the next drive, the Gamecocks found themselves in a potential three-and-out spot. Rattler’s pass was way off target to Ahmarean Brown, but the Gators were flagged for pass interference.

South Carolina would take complete advantage of the mistake as it got into Florida territory on a 30-yard run by Mario Anderson. Three plays later, Rattler hit Trey Knox for a six-yard score to tie it up.

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The Gamecocks continued to fire on all cylinders offensively and scored again on their next possession. This time, it was Juju McDowell, who ran for a 17-yard touchdown, his first of the year.

The defense slowly started to play better, holding the Gators to field goals on their next two possessions. But they struggled to force keep them out of their own territory. Florida only punted one time in the first half.

Things eventually came to ahead when Florida put together a five-play, 82-yard touchdown drive midway through the second quarter.

However, it wouldn’t take long for South Carolina to get back into Florida territory. On the first play of the next drive, Rattler hit Xavier Legette for a 41-yard pass down the left sideline.

A few plays later, on 2nd and 10, Rattler dumped a pass off to Anderson, who had space to run. With only one defender in his way, he leaped over him and got into the end zone for a 20-yard touchdown.

With time winding down in the first half, the Gamecocks stopped Florida on third and long inside the 20. Out of timeouts, the kicking unit ran onto the field and was able to connect from 28 yards with three seconds to go and take the lead.

South Carolina got the ball to start the second half and wouldn’t waste much time moving the ball. On a 3rd and 8 play, Legette leaped high over a defender to make a 46-yard catch that put the Gamecocks in the red zone.

Inside the 10-yard line, the Gamecocks couldn’t punch it in as they only picked up three yards on their next two plays and took a sack. This forced Mitch Jeter to kick a 27-yard field goal to tie the game at 24.

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After quickly moving to the other side of the field, the Gators looked to be in business again. But for the fourth time in the game, they had to settle for a 54-yard field goal from Smack to regain the lead.

Both teams would trade punts on their next possession, which boded well for South Carolina, who struggled to force many punts all game long.

But after getting Florida to punt, the Gamecocks made sure not to waste such an important opportunity. On the first play of the fourth quarter, McDowell caught a three-yard touchdown pass from Rattler to take the lead.

After the defense got another stop, this time off a blocked field goal, Joshua Simon caught a pass to the outside and ran into the end zone for a 33-yard score. This gave South Carolina its largest lead of the day.

Florida wasn’t done scoring, though. Despite struggling late, it did enough to put together a good drive and score a touchdown to cut the deficit to three.

With just over four minutes left to play, South Carolina’s offense had a chance to get a few first downs and run the clock down. However, it wouldn’t melt much time off as Florida got a stop and used all of its timeouts.

This set the Gators up with one last chance to make something happen. And they did. They made more plays, especially on fourth down. They went 3-for-4 on fourth down conversions to keep late drives alive.

After scoring the go-ahead touchdown, Florida picked off Rattler to seal the deal.

Up next: South Carolina begins a two-game road trip, starting with Missouri next Saturday at 3:30 p.m. on SEC Network.

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