South Carolina Beats Tennessee on a Walk-Off Field Goal: Three Key Plays, Two Game Balls and One Burning Question / sportsearchers.com

South Carolina won its second straight ranked game, beating No. 11 Tennessee on a 48-yard walk-off field goal by Malik Orsan after a strip sack set it up. The pasted article doesn’t give the final score, so I haven’t included one.

Three key plays

1. Vicari Swain’s hands-to-the-face penalty. Tennessee trailed 14-0 when it began its second possession. A touchdown was taken off the board for an illegal shift, and the Vols then drove to a second-and-goal from the Gamecock 10. On that play Swain and Radarious Jackson were flagged for offsetting hands-to-the-face penalties. South Carolina stopped Tennessee on third-and-11, but Swain was flagged again for hitting Jackson in the face at the snap. The penalty gave the Vols a first down, and they scored on the next play, cutting the lead in half.

2. Swain’s targeting penalty. South Carolina went up 17-14 with 1:44 left in the first half. Tennessee seemed content to run out the clock and threw a short checkdown, but Swain was called for targeting. The penalty ejected him for the rest of the game and gave the Vols 15 free yards. With good field position, Tennessee got aggressive and drove for the go-ahead touchdown.

3. The strip sack. Dylan Stewart had come close several times, mostly rushing around the outside. This time he started outside and crossed inside, hitting quarterback George MacIntyre as he began to throw. The ball came loose and Tomiwa Durojaiye recovered the fumble. South Carolina got the ball in field goal range with 33 seconds left, ran the clock down, and Orsan hit the 48-yard game-winner.

Two game balls

LaNorris Sellers (18-of-32, 210 yards, a touchdown and an interception, plus 18 carries for 96 yards and two touchdowns): The writer says Sellers went from “GOAT” to goat to “GOAT” during the game. He was largely responsible for the 14-0 lead, for blowing it and for the comeback. His second-half decisions were shaky, but he delivered when the team needed a play. The article also asks where his game-tying touchdown ranks among his scores against orange teams.
Dylan Stewart (two tackles, a sack and a forced fumble): Tennessee handled him for most of the game, but he came through at the critical moment, like Sellers.

One burning question: Can the Gamecocks ever be normal?

The writer says South Carolina was normal in one way: it blew another two-touchdown lead at home. The game was a three-way contest among the Gamecocks, the Volunteers and the officials over who could make the most baffling mistakes. Tennessee lost three touchdowns to penalties, and the officials spent much of the fourth quarter trying to balance makeup calls. While the press box debated whether “de ja vu all over again” applied to a third occurrence, South Carolina got its act together just long enough to win. The next question is whether the team can build on it at Oklahoma next week in Norman.