Sophomore overcomes struggles, leads Gamecocks to victory in fourth quarter
STARKVILLE, Miss. —Connor Shaw didn't play particularly well for most of USC's 14-12 win over Mississippi State here. But when his team — and after this, there's no denying it's Shaw's team now — needed him most, he rose to the occasion and marched it down the field to victory amid the din of cowbells inside Davis Wade Stadium.
Struggling with accuracy and feeling pressure from Bulldog defenders, Shaw walked onto the field with 9:44 remaining in the game having thrown for just 116 yards on 16 completions — no single pass longer than 19 yards — with three sacks and two interceptions.
More importantly, Shaw's team trailed 10-7 and was standing on its own 21, needing 79 yards for a game-winning score. Given that USC had started on its own 36 or better four times already and failed to score a single point, it appeared the Gamecocks had quite the uphill climb in front of them.
Shaw said he and the other 10 men on the offense got into the huddle and reassured themselves they could do it; they had it in them to put aside the struggles of the day, take the ball the length of the field and leave town with a victory. They did just that. And it started with the quarterback.
On the first play of the drive, Shaw stood tall in the pocket, delivering a 19-yard strike across the middle to Ace Sanders followed by a 5-yard rush.
USC went to Bruce Ellington in the wildcat formation and tailback Brandon Wilds on the next three plays. But Shaw reemerged for another 5-yard run, followed by back-to-back 8-yard completions to Ellington and Justice Cunningham to get the Gamecocks to the Mississippi State 11.
Carolina again leaned on Ellington and Wilds to get the ball to the MSU 4, but faced a third-and-goal when Steve Spurrier put the game in Shaw's hands.
The Gamecocks were rewarded soon after.
The chosen play called for Alshon Jeffery to run a hitch route. But the junior receiver read the MSU defense leaning inside and opted to run a fade pattern instead. Jeffery, who had struggled mightily himself up to that point with just four catches for 20 yards, said he felt he had to make a play.
Luckily for Jeffery, Shaw recognized the same thing in the Bulldogs' coverage scheme. So Shaw did what Spurrier tells all his quarterbacks to do when it comes to Jeffery: He threw a jump ball and let the All-American go get it.
"I saw single coverage out there," Shaw said. "You just try to get the ball to Alshon whenever you can — especially with the game on the line like that."
Jeffery went and got it for a 14-10 lead USC would never relinquish.
"We figured it out on the last drive," Shaw said.
And South Carolina figured out that it has its quarterback. The final drive of the game was something Shaw and the Gamecocks sorely needed, especially after he had looked more like the wide-eyed kid who starter against East Carolina rather than the cerebral veteran who eviscerated Kentucky for most of the afternoon. That it came days after the Stephen Garcia era finally came to its tumultuous conclusion was even better Shaw.
Garcia's not walking through that door anymore. There's no one for Shaw to look over his shoulder at. He became South Carolina's quarterback in title on Tuesday. But it was on Saturday that he proved he is worthy of being it. That when it's all on the line, he can deliver. This was a performance, warts and all, that proves Shaw is capable of leading the Gamecocks back to the SEC Championship Game even without Marcus Lattimore beside him in the backfield, to both his teammates and even to Shaw himself.
"Something like that, it just boosts his confidence," Ellington said. "It helps him go into games knowing, situations like that, he can do it."
No, Shaw didn't play very well for most of the game. But as Spurrier reminded the world after the fact, he's still inexperienced. And much of what he did wrong can be corrected.
"He wasn't quite as sharp as last week, but we'll work on it," Spurrier said. "He's only played a couple (of games) now."
Shaw's day wasn't done after the game-winning drive, though. After D.J. Swearinger picked off MSU quarterback Tyler Russell on the Bulldogs' futile final drive, the Gamecocks recovered at their own 12 with 1:45 left in the game, needing to find a way to run the clock down and preserve the win.
A few rushes and a MSU timeout later, the Gamecocks found themselves facing a fourth-and-8 from the USC 14 with four seconds left. USC took a delay of game to push the ball back to the 9-yard line. Shaw trotted over to get the call from Spurrier. When he heard it, he took a double take.
"When [Spurrier] said 'safety,' I kind of looked up at the clock and I was like, 'This is a first for me,'" Shaw said. "It was cool."
Spurrier instructed his quarterback to take the snap, run toward the end zone and then step out the back of it once time expired for a game-ending safety in a decision bound to infuriate Las Vegas, but otherwise ensure a victorious plane ride home. Shaw dutifully obliged, and the game ended thereafter.