South Carolina football's biggest plays of 2013: No. 6, Elliott Fry connects in OT against Missouri

If you missed any of the earlier installments in this series, here are seven, eight, nine, and ten.

This article continues our series on the biggest plays of last season. Number six is Elliott Fry's OT FG against Missouri.

(Fast forward to roughly the 2:44 mark to watch the kick.)

Some of you might be wondering why I chose a field goal as part of this series. Granted, field goals aren't the most engaging part of the game for fans; on the contrary, they're often difficult to watch, with fans fearing the worst rather than hoping for something awesome to happen. That's particularly true on consequential kicks like this one.

That's why I picked this play, though. I'll admit it. I doubted His Fryness before this kick. Everyone in the room with me did, too, and I'll bet many of you can recall feeling the same way. While Fry acquitted himself better than expected early in the season, he had yet to earn my absolute trust, and with the pressure on for this OT attempt, it felt like it might be a little too much for a guy who looks like he could as well be a high school as a college freshman.

Fry split the uprights, though, and as an illustration of how consequential placekicking can be in a game that we think of as being won and lost by hulking lineman and fleet-footed skills positions virtuosos, Fry's Missouri counterpart shanked a chip-shot off the left upright in Missouri's 2OT possession, ending the game with a win for Carolina. Since we featured Ryland Culbertson in the most recent Final Cockdown, let's give him and holder Patrick Fish a shout out for the good snap, too, as Missouri's botched kick appeared to be the result of the holder placing the ball with laces in.

Since the Missouri game, Fry was one of the heroes against Florida, when he went 4/5 in a defensive slugfest. He also had the pleasure of knocking down a kick against Clemson. Life is good for Fry off the field, too. He's been seen rocking a speedo and cowboy hat on the beach and kicking trick shots shirtless. Enjoy the off-season, Freisman. You earned it.