The South Carolina football team opened its 2023 season in prime time as the College GameDay matchup of the week against the North Carolina Tar Heels.
For a shorter summary of the game, the postgame quick hit can be found here.
South Carolina Football vs. North Carolina:
A Game Summary
It was an inauspicious start for Shane Beamer’s team. Dowell Loggains’ first offensive series as playcaller resulted in a 3-and-out. The Gamecocks opened the game with an attempted trick play that never materialized as Xavier Legette appeared set to throw the ball after a swing pass but, instead, took a loss on the play. The o-line struggled (a theme for the night), and a punt followed.
Nick Emmanwori got banged up on the first defensive play, and BJ Gibson came in before freshman Jalen Kilgore replaced him. The defense got gashed, especially against the run then left UNC tight end John Copenhaver open in the middle, setting the Tar Heels up for an easy score on the ground when Omarion Hampton made it 7-0 despite USC having 13 men on the field.
Redshirt freshman offensive lineman Cason Henry got the start at right tackle but struggled before getting hurt on the second drive. The first sign of life from the Gamecocks came on a 21-yard 3rd down conversion from Spencer Rattler to Xavier Legette. The 7 to 17 connection worked again on the next play for a 38-yard gain on a jump ball.
The Gamecocks moved very fast on this second offensive drive. Trey Knox brought the Gamecocks inside the 5-yard line after catching a ball over the middle of the field. 2021 Duke’s Mayo Bowl MVP Dakereon Joyner tied things up at 7-7 with a run up the middle on the next play.
The tackling improved for the Gamecocks on the next drive, but the ‘Heels were still able to move the ball. North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye started the game 10-10 passing despite missing his top two receivers for the game, but the 10th completion left North Carolina short of the sticks on 3rd down as the first quarter expired.
The 11th pass attempt fell incomplete as the Gamecocks forced the Tar Heels off the field on 4th down and took over on their own 23.
Starting running back DK Joyner ran the wildcat with no success on the first play, but it showed that he is still first in line to get those snaps in 2023. A punt followed a Spencer Rattler trip sack, but North Carolina’s ensuing drive stalled out after a promising start due to multiple penalties and a dropped pass. A 37-yard field goal from Ryan Coe gave UNC a 10-7 lead.
Xavier Legette opened the next drive with a near 30-yard reception (thanks, in part, to a DK Joyner push), and Ahmarean Brown followed with a 20-yard run after catch. Two plays later, Juju McDowell took a swing pass to the 1 before punching it in on his next chance to give the Gamecocks a 14-10 lead after the Mitch Jeter extra point.
Maye carved up the Gamecocks as an answer, quickly moving this offense into Gamecock territory. New starter at nickel Keenan Nelson, Jr. got beat deep for an easy pitch-and-catch touchdown from Maye to Kobe Paysour. 17-14 was the score with just over 2:30 to go in the half.
On the next South Carolina drive, Rattler hit Ahmarean Brown for a nice gain on a swing pass, but Legette got banged up on the play. O’Mega Blake replaced him but got dinged for a holding call to negate a good gain. Rattler hit fellow quarterback Luke Doty for a big gain on second down before Rattler took a sack, forcing a Gamecock punt.
For the first half, the quarterback duel between Spencer Rattler and Drake Maye lived up to the billing. Rattler went 10-11 for 177 yards, Maye matched him for the same yardage on 16-20 passing. In contrast, the South Carolina football running game was non-existent. USC had 5 yards on the ground for the half on 14 carries. North Carolina was much better running the ball with 78 yards, including several chunk plays.
Out of the break, Beamer Ball/Lembo Ball was in full effect as Mitch Jeter kicked and recovered an onside kick to open the second half, but the offense squandered the opportunity with a Brown drop on 4th down. After the drive, it was announced that Juice Wells, who had barely played up to that point, was going to miss the rest of the game with the foot injury he’d battled recently.
North Carolina made the Gamecocks pay for not capitalizing by taking the good field position and putting the ball into the end zone in just 6 plays, including a deep ball to Gavin Blackwell that beat O’Donnell Fortune. Omarion Hampton punched it in after the deep strike, giving UNC a 24-14 lead.
The lack of push up front continued to haunt the South Carolina offense as two carries for no gain left USC behind the sticks before a miscommunication on the line led to Rattler getting sacked again. After an uncharacteristically short Kai Kroeger punt, UNC made short work of its next drive. Maye hit Copenhaver again, this time for a touchdown to bring the score to 31-14.
The nail seemed extremely near to being hammered into the Gamecocks’ coffin after the following drive resulted in no points as Spencer Rattler was sacked for the fourth time.
On the next possession, Maye gave the ball back to the Gamecocks after throwing an ill-advised pass with Stone Blanton bearing down on him. O’Donnell Fortune picked off the weak throw, and his offense moved the ball a bit to start the following drive.
Charlotte transfer Jaxon Hughes was beaten for a sack for the second-straight drive to end the third quarter, but Xavier Legette continued his strong day with another jump ball win to put the Gamecocks inside the red zone. A sixth sack in a 3rd-and-goal situation killed the touchdown chance, but Mitch Jeter remained perfect in his kicking career to bring the score to 31-17.
When UNC got the ball back after the kickoff, Drake Maye suffered a tough-luck interception that KaJuan Banks came up with after the ball was tipped up in the secondary. A nice return brought the ball inside the UNC 40, but the offense faltered and couldn’t convert a difficult 4th and 19, turning the ball over on downs.
The decision to not kick the field goal seemed a bit premature as the Gamecocks were down just 14 with over 8 minutes to go in the game.
Any hope of a comeback almost vanished with the missed conversion. North Carolina ran the ball down the Gamecock defense’s throat, chewing up the clock, but then inexplicably tried throwing the ball. A couple of incompletions and a big hit from Jalon Kilgore stopped the drive, and USC forced their first punt of the game.
The Gamecocks drove the field but turned the ball over on downs in the red zone. North Carolina ran some clock but punted again, giving South Carolina football another opportunity, but that too resulted in a 4th-down stop by UNC.
The final score stood at a closer-than-it-should-have-been 31-17.
Spencer Rattler and Xavier Legette had great performances for the offense (30-39 for 353 yards for Rattler, 9 catches for 178 yards for Legette), and Debo Williams led the way defensively with 14 tackles. Freshman safety Jalon Kilgore had 12 stops, and Stone Blanton finished with 10. O’Donnell Fortune and KaJuan Banks each had an interception. Mitch Jeter kicked and recovered an onside kick and was perfect on his kicks.