South Carolina Gamecocks vs. Florida Gators, recap and final score: Gamecocks clipped by Gators, 24-14

It was another late charge for the South Carolina Gamecocks, but again, it came up short. Kelvin Taylor's 58-yard third down run and eventual one-yard TD run iced the game for the Florida Gators, who won 24-14 at Williams-Brice Stadium.

The story of the first half was the absolute failure of the Gamecocks' third-down defense. The Gators were 7 of 9 on third downs at one point - and picked up a 4th down by the nose of a football for good measure - as they jumped out to a 14-0 second-quarter lead on a pair of touchdown grabs by Jordan Cronkrite. After forcing a rare punt, the Gamecocks gave it right back on a interception by Perry Orth to Jalen Tabor with 3:27 left, but couldn't score as T.J. Gurley picked off Treon Harris with 1:01 left. Carolina was fortunate to be trailing by just 14-0 despite just 53 yards of offense (12 rushing).

Despite an interception by Gerald Dixon early in the third quarter, the Carolina offense couldn't get anything going. Their defense couldn't stop the Gators on their second drive, either, but were fortunate to hold them to a 39-yard field goal to stretch it to 17-0. It would take a Wildcat pass from Pharoh Cooper to Perry Orth with nine minutes left in the game to get the Gamecocks on the board and cut it to 17-7. That awakened the Gamecocks, and after coming up with another stop on defense, Orth returned the favor to Cooper with 4:49 left to make it 17-14. But Taylor would break off a huge 58-yard run to the one yard line on 3rd and long, then punched it in a play later to make it 24-14 and spoil the comeback.

Next up for the Gamecocks: the second-to-last game of the season against the Citadel at Williams-Brice Stadium. Kickoff for that one is set for noon.