An Elliott Fry career high 55-yard field goal with 35 seconds remaining led the Gamecocks to a 13-10 come-from behind win over the Commodores in Will Muschamp’s first game as Carolina head coach.
The first half was ugly for both teams, but Vanderbilt ended up opening up a 10-0 lead thanks in part to a muffed punt by Deebo Samuel and strong running by the Commodores’ duo of Ralph Webb and Kharl Blasingame. Despite the Carolina offense struggling, the defense looked solid in Muschamp’s debut, forcing eight punts on the evening. But the offense didn’t come close to picking the defense up in the first half as dropped passes, a poor showing by the offensive line, and a unwillingness to take risks were the contributing factors to the Gamecocks’ lack of output in the opening 30 minutes.
It took until the six-minute mark in the third for the Gamecocks to score via a Elliott Fry field goal. But the offense started to click in the 4th, and it led to them finally finding the end zone - on a jet sweep by Deebo Samuel to knot the score at 10. Following a 44-yard field goal miss by the Commodores with 3:44 left, the Gamecocks marched down into Vandy territory to set up Fry’s long FG make - the eventual game winner.
Perry Orth shook off a slow start and finished with a manageable 11-19 for 152 yards. Brandon McIlwain was 5-11 for 35 yards passing in his collegiate debut, adding 29 yards on seven carries. A.J. Turner and Bryan Edwards were terrific to open their college careers, with Turner registering 70 yards on 13 carries and Edwards hauling in eight passes for a game-high 101 yards.
Game Thread Roll Call
# | Commenter | # Comments |
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1 | SCsoldier04 | 76 |
2 | richie.gross78 | 72 |
3 | Crusht | 32 |
4 | Bulldog Cocky | 27 |
5 | forsomereason | 17 |
6 | Sydney Hunte | 16 |
7 | earlmikell | 13 |
8 | Slamela | 12 |
9 | SCisUSC87 | 8 |
10 | SMcDowell93 | 8 |
11 | chuckles302 | 8 |
12 | raincntry | 4 |
13 | One Big Jerk | 3 |
14 | CarolinaEmpire | 3 |
15 | Benito El Rey | 3 |
16 | The GIF Oracle | 1 |
17 | facman#1 | 1 |
18 | Fog horn Leghorn | 1 |
19 | jimbomac1 | 1 |