Gamecocks Remember What Winning Feels Like

Saturday afternoon in Columbia, the Gamecocks remember what winning feels like, with a 41-10 victory over Furman in a homecoming-fair game. The last time South Carolina won was September 20th at Vanderbilt, before even the first known case of Ebola in the United States, which seems like forever ago. The crowd of just over 78,000 was a little worried in the first quarter as the visiting Paladins looked like they were going to have the ball on the Gamecocks 1-yard line and about to tie the game. However, a few miscues later the Gamecocks had the ball back, and then began their journey to putting away the FCS team.

Although a game that Coach Steve Spurrier was not overly proud of in his post-game conference, it still provided several big moments. The early highlight was 27 year old walk-on Marine Michael Washington, who was getting his first start, and then recovered a fumble to help turn momentum in the first quarter.

The strength of the Gamecocks was definitely the running game, who not only put up 267 total rushing yards, but some exciting runs from several different backs. Mike Davis looked great early and finished with 111 yards and 2 TDs on 18 carries. David Williams came on next and finished right behind Davis with 110 yards on 11 carries with some spectacular runs. Finally, Shon Carson came in and had 85 yards on only 7 carries including a 57 yard carry that was just short of a touchdown for the speedster.

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The passing game finally saw multiple quarterbacks for the first time this season. Dylan Thompson had a very strong game with 14-22 for 262 yards and 2 TDs, with one of his best outings of the season. Connor Mitch and Perry Orth also had playing time, but seemed to have very little time to get anything going with constant pressure on them. The throws were definitely spread out, with nine different receivers making catches.

With Lorenzo Ward’s first game up in the press box, the defense looked pretty shaky in the first half, giving up over 200 yards including a 60-yard touchdown run. however, the second half was a totally different story, with much more pressure and ultimately only giving up about 100 yards.

All in all a good win for the Gamecocks, and some big plays exciting stats, but now it’s time to move on and start looking at Auburn who the team travels to play next Saturday night.

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