South Carolina drops heartbreaker to No. 16 LSU

South Carolina headed into its Week 3 contest against LSU as 6.5-point underdogs, according to ESPN BET. A complete performance, with some momentum from a rowdy crowd at Williams-Brice Stadium, is exactly what it needed to pull off an upset victory.

After 20 minutes, it appeared that the Gamecocks were right on track to do so. Lengthy scoring drives, stops on defense and a big play on special teams helped the team develop an early 17-0 lead.

LSU would eventually crawl back into the game, making the score close until the final whistle. And that close score would eventually reverse into the visitor’s favor. On a Saturday that kicked off with College GameDay in Columbia, the Tigers emerged as 36-33 victors.

“We told our players before the game that it was going to be a heavyweight SEC fight that would come down to the fourth quarter. And it absolutely did,” Shane Beamer said. “I’m proud as heck of our team. That was a back-and-forth game, and, in the end, they made one more play than we did.”

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South Carolina (2-1, 1-1 SEC) kicked off the game with arguably its most efficient drive of the 2024 season. Starting at their own 25-yard line, the Gamecocks marched down the length of the field on seven plays. It took South Carolina just two minutes and 46 seconds to do so on a possession that was capped off by a four-yard rush by LaNorris Sellers.

Rocket Sanders also played a pivotal role on the drive, gaining 44 yards on the ground on three carries. He would finish the game with 153 total yards of offense, the most of any South Carolina skill player outside the pocket.

“I feel like, with me talking in that huddle, hearing them saying, ‘We got it,’ and keeping those guys poised, and just LaNorris be confident, be yourself. He knows what he’s capable of, and I feel like I know what I’m capable of,” Sanders said. “Just having that confidence and going out there with a lot of poise.”

The Gamecocks would score on a 28-yard field goal from Alex Herrera on its next drive before South Carolina’s special teams forced a timely turnover to start another. Maurice Brown II, a sophomore tight end who was put on scholarship on Tuesday, got his hand on a punt that was recovered by Buddy Mack. One play later, Sanders found the end zone on a 10-yard run to build on his team’s lead.

The Gamecocks’ defense put up a strong performance in the beginning stages of the contest, too. South Carolina surrendered just seven yards to LSU (2-1, 1-0 SEC) in the first quarter, while the Gamecocks’ offense put up 135.

But not everything in the first half was sunshine and rainbows for the Gamecocks.

The Tigers, after going scoreless on its first three drives of the game, earned points on its next three. Two of those possessions went 75 yards.

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Sellers, despite his strong start, also turned the ball over twice in first half. The first came on an overthrown pass, which was caught by LSU cornerback Zy Alexander in the end zone. The second came on a fumble Sellers lost on a third-and-long play midway through the second quarter.

“Ball security is already a concern. We talk about it all the time, and we’ve got to be better back there because we put our defense in a bad position,” Beamer said. “We didn’t all of a sudden start preaching it today, but we obviously haven’t done a good enough of preaching it.”

But he would quickly find a quick way to respond. And that response would make history. The redshirt freshman signal caller embarked on the longest run by a quarterback in program annals – a 75-yard touchdown that gave South Carolina a 24-10 lead.

Although South Carolina gave up a touchdown to LSU late in the second quarter, it would carry some of that momentum into the second half.

The Tigers, after starting their initial drive of the second quarter at their own 25-yard line, faced a first-and-goal situation from the Gamecocks’ two yard-line. Even after reaching the one-yard line by third down, LSU was unable to muster the one yard it needed for a touchdown. Gilber Edmond stopped running back Caden Durham at the line of scrimmage on third down. And on the next play, Edmond’s pressure forced an incompletion from Garrett Nussmeier, forcing a turnover on downs.

The Tigers would not stay off the scoreboard for long, though – especially as South Carolina’s offense faltered. LSU scored 13 unanswered points in the third quarter and beginning of the fourth. The visitors’ advantage during that time frame extended beyond scoring, too. While the Gamecocks logged just one yard of offense in the third quarter, the Tigers recorded 175.

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“I think, at halftime, our defense had only played 30 plays. We should’ve been extremely fresh and ready to go play, but, certainly, they were out there a lot in the third quarter. We weren’t out there a lot offensively,” Beamer said. “Give LSU credit for that. The third quarter was big, and I still think we were winning going into the fourth quarter. And that’s what’s disappointing today.”

A 66-yard touchdown run by Sanders early in the fourth quarter appeared to give South Carolina’s offense some new life – and a 30-29 lead. On the Gamecocks’ next drive, a 42-yard field goal from Herrera game the team a four-point advantage.

But even as South Carolina struggled to sustain offensive drives, its defense repeatedly came up with big plays. The Gamecocks turned into a takeaway machine in the fourth quarter, stymying LSU’s ability to build on its lead.

On the Tigers’ first drive of the final period, Dylan Stewart recovered a fumble after Nussmeier was unprepared for a snap. Two drives later, Nick Emmanwori picked off his second pass in as many games. And the similarities to his performance against Kentucky did not stop there – he returned this interception to the end zone, too. The officiating crew reversed the score, however, after giving Kyle Kennard a penalty for unnecessary roughness.

Unfortunately for the Gamecocks, those two turnovers would not be enough to salvage the contest. Josh Williams punched a two-yard pass into the end zone with just over one minute remaining.

South Carolina put up a valiant effort on its last drive of the game, advancing 44 yards on seven plays in one minute and 12 seconds. But Herrera’s missed 49-yard field goal attempt, which sailed wide left, sealed the win for LSU.

What’s next?

South Carolina will look to return to winning ways next week against Akron. The game is set to kick off at 7:30 p.m. and air on ESPN U.

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