Clowney records 2 tackles for loss, re-aggravates bone spurs
It was not pretty for the Gamecocks in their 19-14 victory over Florida on Saturday, but it was enough for South Carolina to keep its SEC East hopes alive.
The Gamecocks (8-2) finished 6-2 against their conference opponents, and if Missouri loses one of its last two games at Ole Miss or at home against No. 9 Texas A&M, the Gamecocks could make the SEC championship game. Missouri has just one loss in SEC play thus far so if the Tigers lose one more game, the Gamecocks own the tiebreaker because they beat Missouri on Oct. 26.
Georgia was in contention for the SEC East until Saturday’s topsy-turvy game against Auburn left the Bulldogs in despair with a 43-38 loss. Georgia overcame a 20-point fourth quarter deficit to take a late lead. Then, a long fourth down hail-mary play was deflected into the hands of Auburn receiver Ricardo Louis for a miraculous 73-yard touchdown catch with less than 30 seconds left in the game. The play left Georgia with a third conference loss and what Bulldog fans will call an underachieving season.
South Carolina head coach Steve Spurrier noted the wild finish and how the stars may be aligned for the Gamecocks to reach the SEC Championship Game.
“Maybe something bigger is going to happen for us down the road,” Spurrier said. “I don’t know. We’ll watch Missouri play a little bit from a distance. We’ll be getting ready for Coastal [Carolina] and try to win our ninth game of the season next week if we can.”
Junior defensive end Jadeveon Clowney and junior receiver Bruce Ellington both said they do not think the Gamecocks will get caught up in what Missouri is doing too much.
“It’s going to be pretty difficult because we’re leaning on them,” Ellington said. “We’ve got to focus on what we got to do against [Coastal] and Clemson.”
Home is the Place to Be
South Carolina set a school record on Saturday by winning 16 consecutive games at home. Senior quarterback Connor Shaw appreciated the fans at Williams-Brice Stadium for the loud environment, which made it tough for the Gators. Spurrier was happy to set a new record and said he hoped to make it 17 in a row next week against Coastal.
“We’re proud of the guys and proud to win 16 in a row here,” he said. “We’re 6-2 in the conference three years in a row, and that’s pretty good for us.”
Brandon Wilds
Sophomore Brandon Wilds did not come in the game after sophomore running back Mike Davis went down with a minor injury on Saturday. After practice last week, Wilds said a dislocated elbow that caused him to miss five games would no longer hold him back against Florida. However, according to Spurrier, Wilds said his hamstring was hurting him before the game. The coaching staff kept Wilds on the bench and redshirt sophomore Shon Carson performed well filling in at tailback.
Kicking game
True freshman kicker Elliott Fry made a career-high four of his five field goal attempts on the night. Each kick proved to be crucial — the last field goal coming from 43 yards out with 2:16 remaining in the game, meaning the Gators needed a touchdown to win the game. Fry shook off a miss from 38 yards to give the Gamecocks the five-point lead late.
“I was able to block it out,” he said. “A huge part of the kicking game is just being able to block out the last kick and move on to the next one. After you miss, there’s nothing you can do about it so you just got to move on.”