FINAL: Gamecocks Unable To Muster Comeback In 34-12 Loss To Missouri
After falling behind in the first half 24-3, South Carolina showed glimpses of life in the third quarter, scoring field goals on two straight offensive drives and stringing together a couple of third down stops against the Tigers. At the end of the day, however, it wasn't enough, as the Gamecocks made too many collective mistakes and lost 34-12 to Missouri.
The first half was seemingly a carryover from the final nine minutes of Carolina's gut-wrenching defeat suffered last Saturday at the hands of the Florida Gators. The offense constantly found themselves in unideal situations, with an average distance of 9.9 yards to go on ten 3rd down attempts in the first half. Defensively, South Carolina gave up multiple explosive plays to different Tiger playmakers, and besides a couple of negative plays on outside zone runs, were unable to cause havoc in Missouri's backfield.
Tree Babalade checking on Spencer Rattler after he took a hit from a Missouri defender (21st Oct., 2023)
Jay Biggerstaff | USA Today Network
In the second half, South Carolina was able to build up some momentum, as they scored on their first two offensive possessions, and locked down the Tigers' offense in the third quarter, giving up just 56 yards of total offense in that stretch. In the fourth quarter, however, the game once again got away from Shane Beamer and his team.
Missouri kicker Harrison Mevis nailed a 53-yard field goal with thirteen minutes and fourty-two seconds left in the fourth quarter to go back up by 18 points, or three scores. On the ensuing offensive drive, the Gamecocks would drive all the way down to the Tigers' three-yard line, and reaching 4th and goal, would decide to kick another field goal. This decision did cut the point differential to two scores, but also putting a lot of trust in his team to keep stringing together successful drives on both sides despite the deficit and only ten minutes left of regulation.
While the defense would manage to get off the field once again, Spencer Rattler would throw up a 50-50 ball to O'Mega Blake on the following offensive drive, and the ball being just too high for Blake, would wind up in the chest of Jaylon Carlies. After that, it was pretty much all she wrote for the Gamecocks, who gave up a touchdown to Missouri on the next drive, effectively ending the game, and giving South Carolina their third straight loss of the season.
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