The 3-2-1: Three key plays, two game balls, one burning question from South Carolina's win over Missouri

South Carolina beat Missouri in a thrilling 34-30 comeback win. Here are three key plays, two game balls, and one burning question from South Carolina’s big win.

Three Key Plays

1. Fourth and one
Shane Beamer wanted to be aggressive. The Gamecocks had already gone for it on fourth down four times, converting twice. This is the one he probably regrets. South Carolina failed on fourth down on its first drive of the third quarter and Missouri answered with a touchdown.

Now leading 21-12, LaNorris Sellers scrambled for eight yards on third and nine. South Carolina tried to convert out of the shotgun and failed but was bailed out when the replay booth buzzed the play dead.

South Carolina only partially learned its lesson, changing the formation but not the decision to go for it. Sellers was stuffed on the quarterback sneak. Missouri only got a field goal out of the field position, but it sucked all the air out of the stadium.

2. Houdini Part II
It looked almost exactly like Sellers’ Houdini play from last week against Vanderbilt. He was wrapped up for a sack, somehow spun free, ran to the right, and spotted a receiver downfield. Last week it was a 50-yard gain, but this play was arguably bigger. Sellers spotted Brady Hunt, who had one catch all season, for an 11-yard pickup on third and 10. The first down led to a touchdown in the back-and-forth fourth quarter.

3. Dalevon Campbell over the middle
This was the biggest play on South Carolina’s game-winning drive. Sellers felt pressure, stepped up in the pocket, and found Dalevon Campbell crossing the middle of the field in front of him. Sellers hit him in stride, and Campbell galloped 39 yards down to the Missouri 21. The big play put the Gamecocks firmly in control of the situation, and they had the luxury of calling a QB run and then a shovel pass to get into the end zone.

[Win two tickets to the South Carolina-Wofford football game]

Two Game Balls

1. LaNorris Sellers
This was the LaNorris Sellers Game. He was masterful outside of one bad pass that was picked off. Sellers threw for 353 yards on 21-30 passing and had five touchdowns to five different receivers. He also rushed for 45 yards on 14 carries.

On South Carolina’s two fourth-quarter scoring drives, Sellers completed passes to Brady Hunt, Dalevon Campbell, Michael Smith, Jared Brown, Campbell again, and Rocket Sanders. Hunt had one catch coming into the game, Campbell had four, and Smith had eight.

Nine different receivers caught passes. That’s a quarterback who is in charge of the offense. Sellers’ previous career-highs were 244 yards and two touchdowns. He smashed those

2. Nick Emmanwori
Emmanwori had 11 tackles, eight of them solo. Missouri’s offense is designed to get playmakers like Luther Burdon and Theo Wease in space and let them make plays. The sure tackling from Emmanwori largely kept them in check. Burdon had 32 yards on seven catches before his 37-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter, and Wease’s longest catch was 23 yards.

One Burning Question

Can South Carolina keep it rolling?
You don’t have to know much about South Carolina football to know that next week’s Wofford game should terrify you. South Carolina has a long, ignominious history of getting caught in trap games.

Stay focused, take care of business, and you roll into Clemson riding a five-game winning streak as one of the hottest teams in the country. 

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