The Citadel Kicks a Zero-second Field Goal to Beat South Carolina State
Evan Kiely's 31-yard field goal came with the clock at 0:00, and it gave The Citadel a 34-31 win at South Carolina State. Three ties and three lead changes, and the last one belongs to the kicker.
It started as a swap of leads. South Carolina State kicked a 47-yard field goal first, The Citadel went up 7-3 on a Gavin Garcia 1-yard run, and DJ Maultsby's 41-yard catch from Keely Watson put the home side back ahead 10-7. Kiely tied it with a field goal and Garcia caught an 8-yard touchdown from Quentin Hayes with 0:23 left in the half for 17-10.
Then the Citadel pulled away. After Mason Pickett-Hicks tied it at 17 with an 18-yard run, Damir Abdullah caught a 55-yard touchdown from Hayes, and Garcia ran 19 yards with 3:15 left in the third to make it 31-17. Hayes was 7 of 12 for 127 yards, so the passes were few and long. South Carolina State needed 14 and got them: Pickett-Hicks caught a 21-yard touchdown with 0:31 left in the third, and Josh Shaw ran in from 6 yards with 8:16 to go in the fourth for 31-31. Nobody scored again until Kiely did, and nobody committed a turnover either: both teams had zero interceptions and zero lost fumbles.
The Citadel ran 37 times for 237 yards and passed for only 183, for 420 total, against 335 for South Carolina State, which threw for 245 and ran for 90. The Citadel moves to 1-3 and South Carolina State falls to 3-1.
For fantasy, Garcia was the game: 167 yards and two rushing touchdowns, plus a receiving score, all in one afternoon. His 36.5 points led the day by almost nine.