What went wrong when South Carolina was outscored 17-0 in third quarter vs Mississippi State
COLUMBIA — South Carolina football led Mississippi State 16-0 four minutes into the second quarter on Sept. 19. The Bulldogs got some momentum but still, the Gamecocks responded and carried a 23-16 lead into the break.
In his halftime radio interview, coach Shane Beamer said it should’ve been 42-0 but instead, South Carolina settled for field goals in the first quarter.
Beamer was right. Scoring six points instead of 14 haunted his team that then came out lifeless in the third quarter, allowing 17 points from the Bulldogs (3-0, 1-0 SEC) to take the lead and ultimately win 41-34.
“We had opportunities in the first half,” South Carolina quarterback LaNorris Sellers said. “We got to finish those drives. We finish those, who knows what happens the rest of the game?”
South Carolina (2-1, 0-1 SEC) took seven minutes off the clock on the opening drive but on third-and-goal couldn’t convert. On fourth down, Sellers ran in a touchdown but it was called back for holding, ending the lengthy drive in a field goal.
Later in the second quarter, Sellers found wide receiver Nyck Harbor for a 44-yard catch but then the offense stalled in the red zone again, opting for backup kicker Malik Orsan, who didn’t start the last two weeks, to make a career-long 51-yarder.
“I don’t like the field goals we kicked in the first half but to come out in the second half … to not get stops and give them momentum right back in the third quarter was certainly really frustrating and really disappointing,” Beamer said.
The defense only spent just under 7.5 minutes on the field the entire first half. Momentum was still on the Gamecocks side but everything crumble.
“The third quarter is just crazy,” Beamer said.
South Carolina had 5 total yards and allowed 166, spent four minutes on offense, and let the Bulldogs get nine first downs. A total of 27 Mississippi State plays to seven for the Gamecocks, averaging 6.1 yards per play compared to 0.7. In every other quarter, South Carolina had between 129-147 total yards of offense.
On third-and-18 with 10:13 in the third, Marquis Johnson was all alone in the end zone for a touchdown, with South Carolina players nowhere near him.
“We have to recognize, communicate and execute,” safety Peyton Williams said of the busted coverage.
What LaNorris Sellers said about 2 interceptions
Even when the defense suffered, the offense has chances to recover but Sellers followed suit.
He threw back-to-back interceptions, neither time pressured and both turned into 10 game-changing points.
“Those two plays are big in the SEC,” Sellers said. “You lose by three, six points, you can’t have plays like that.”
Sellers was 25-of-40 for 282 passing yards, two interceptions and two touchdowns. His costly turnovers overshadowed the fact that he logged his fifth-most passing yards in three years.
“Wasn’t great,” Sellers said of his performance. “I take full responsibility for how the offense played. Two turnovers, costly turnovers, can’t turn the ball over in the SEC. We lost by six points. We get those two plays back, maybe go down and score … get a stop and get momentum on our side, you never know where the game swings.”
Lulu Kesin covers South Carolina athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network.
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: What went wrong when South Carolina was outscored 17-0 in third quarter vs Mississippi State
