South Carolina Scores 10 in the Last 77 Seconds to Stun Tennessee
South Carolina trailed 24-17 with 1:17 left. It won 27-24. Do the arithmetic: 10 points in the final 77 seconds, the last 3 of them from Malik Orsan with nothing left on the clock.
LaNorris Sellers ran in from 4 yards at 1:17 to tie it, and Orsan then kicked a 48-yard field goal at 0:00. That was the second lead change of the game, and it was the last one. South Carolina had started fast, 14-0 on a 17-yard Sellers pass to Mazeo Bennett Jr. and a 31-yard Sellers run before the first quarter was half done. Tennessee came back with touchdowns from DeSean Bishop, DaSaahn Brame and Mike Matthews, took a 21-17 lead at the half and added a Cooper Ranvier field goal for 24-17 with 11:46 to play. South Carolina did not score in the third quarter, or in the first 13 minutes of the fourth.
Tennessee ran 50 times for 184 yards and threw for 136, with one fumble lost and no interceptions. South Carolina had 344 total yards to 320, threw one interception and was not sacked once. Tennessee did record five sacks of its own, and they did not stop the finish. Sellers carried 18 times for 96 yards on top of 210 passing yards, which is the whole game in one line.
The box score on the ground favored Tennessee, with 50 carries to South Carolina's 31, but the Gamecocks made their 31 count. Mike Matthews carried once for 8 yards and a touchdown and caught five for 47, Braylon Staley had six catches for 56, and DaSaahn Brame scored from a yard out, so Tennessee had plenty of players involved. It just did not have enough in the last 77 seconds, and that is the kind of game that can stick in a team's memory for a while.
South Carolina is 4-3 and Tennessee is 6-2. Tennessee led from just before halftime until 1:17 remained and still lost.