South Carolina football had a chance to change the narrative of their season a bit on Saturday against the Furman Paladins. An ugly loss to the North Carolina Tar Heels showed some big-time weaknesses up front on both lines of scrimmage. Some of those struggles continued against Furman, but the Gridiron Gamecocks still were able to bounce back in a big way.
Despite the disappointment of a week ago, the Gamecock Faithful were ready. A capacity crowd was loud and engaged and almost blew the non-existent roof off of Williams-Brice Stadium when Cocky drove a Cockaboose onto the field for a new pregame entrance.
For a shorter summary of the Furman game, click here.
South Carolina Football vs. Furman:
A Game Summary
After Cocky’s brand new entrance, the Gamecocks trotted out a couple of new starters, as well. Tyshawn Wannamer started in place of the injured Cason Henry on the offensive line, and Jalon Kilgore started at safety instead of Nick Emmanwori who was sitting out with a hamstring issue.
The Gamecocks’ opening drive saw Spencer Rattler return to his favorite target from week 1, hitting Xavier Legette three times. USC also ran the football better than they did at any point against North Carolina, but two pre-snap penalties on the offensive line stalled the drive to just a field goal from Mitch Jeter, who missed his first-ever kick after starting 12-12 for his career.
Furman took over after the missed 50-yarder and went to work. Quarterback Tyler Huff had a big gain on first down, and then a trick play burnt star corner Marcellas Dial and put the ‘Dins inside the 5-yard line. Dial almost redeemed himself with an interception on the next play but couldn’t hang on. Big running back Dominic Roberto got Furman on the board on 4th-and-goal, giving them a 7-0 lead after the extra point.
The Gamecocks worked fast on the next drive as Juice Wells got in on the action, and Ahmarean Brown and DK Joyner had big gains. Mario Anderson got his first carry as a Gamecock, and Josh Simon got the South Carolina offense close to the end zone before DK Joyner tied the score at 7-7 when he crossed the goal line for USC’s first score, just as he did in week 1.
The South Carolina defense bowed up on the next possession and forced a 3-and-out from the Paladins, but the offense gave the ball right back with their own 3-and-out after only gaining two yards.
After a Tyler Huff scramble extended the next drive on 3rd down, a blatant hold on Gamecock EDGE Jordan Strachan was missed against the Paladins, and Furman was into Carolina territory. From there, the Paladins methodically moved the ball down the field, both on the ground and through the air. The drive ended with a touchdown pass to the flat from Huff to Luke Shiflett.
Furman led 14-7 with just under 12 minutes to go in the half. Jalon Kilgore, starting in the place of the injured Nick Emmanwori, got hurt on the drive. BJ Gibson replaced him.
The Gamecocks brought in true freshmen Tree Babalade and Trovon Baugh on the offensive line on the ensuing drive. Perhaps it sparked something, because after a bad 1st down, the Gamecocks had their best blocking drive of the young season. Moving primarily through the passing game, the ‘Cocks answered Furman’s drive with a touchdown of their own on a Spencer Rattler 1-yard quarterback sneak to tie the game again at 14-14.
Kilgore returned on the next drive, and he and the defense forced a 3-and-out. Bryan Thomas, Jr. also had the team’s first sack of the season, but Huff just got rid of it as he got hit by #46. There was nothing going for USC on the next drive as they punted it right back after three unsuccessful plays, including Spencer Rattler’s first incompletion on the night.
Keenan Nelson got injured in a friendly-fire collision with Debo Williams on 1st down for the Paladins, but his replacement KaJuan Banks had a big hit on his first play of action. Thanks in part to a flag against Furman and Banks’ big hit, South Carolina football forced a 3-and-out. Tonka Hemingway just missed a sack on 3rd down before the punt.
Punt returner Ahmarean Brown had a big return that was called back due to a weak block in the back by Juju McDowell. Brown went down at the end of the return with an injury. He could not put any weight on his leg as he was helped off the field.
When Carolina got the ball back, Memphis transfer Eddie Lewis got his first reception as a Gamecock to pick up a 3rd-down conversion and his second to secure another 1st down. The Gamecocks tried running the 170-pound Juju McDowell up the middle on 3rd-and-short to no avail, but Rattler hit Legette for a first down to continue the drive.
On the very next snap, Rattler hit backup quarterback/slot receiver Luke Doty for a 36-yard score after a play action fake. The touchdown gave Carolina their first lead of the night. A strange 2-point conversion pass attempt to Tonka Hemingway failed, however, so South Carolina football led 20-14 with about a minute to go before the half.
Furman could not get a 1st down and punted it back to the Gamecocks. Getting the ball with less than 30 seconds left in the half, Rattler hit Legette on a 50-yard bomb after evading pressure. The big gain put the ‘Cocks in scoring position. Two plays later, just before the clock went triple zeroes, Rattler hit O’Mega Blake to finish the 3-play, 75-yard drive that took just 20 seconds off the clock.
At the half, the Gamecocks led 27-14, scoring 20 unanswered after starting off down to the Paladins. Carolina ran for an ugly-at-times 66 yards in the first two quarters, and quarterback Spencer Rattler was almost perfect. For the half, the ‘Cocks QB1 went 25/27 for 257 yards and 3 total touchdowns).
To start the second half, Clay Hendrix’s team had a game plan for the first drive: attack O’Donnell Fortune on slants. Josh Harris beat Fortune twice for first downs before Fortune left the game after being banged up. However, on the next play, Tyreek Johnson and DQ Smith combined for the Gamecocks’ first sack of the season.
The Paladins picked up a big gain to convert a 3rd-and-long after the sack, but defensive tackle TJ Sanders picked up a tackle for loss and a sack to help force the punt.
On the first play after the punt, Spencer Rattler hit Eddie Lewis for a 45-yard deep ball. The throw was behind #11, but he was so open that it didn’t matter. Two run plays went nowhere, but then Rattler aired it out again, this time to Xavier Legette for a 43-yard touchdown to push the lead to 34-14.
The Gamecock defense continued the strong play it started displaying in the 2nd quarter. A 3-and-out culminated with a rare target in the direction of corner Marcellas Dial, who calmly reached out and knocked the ball away from the Furman receiver to win the ball back for his offense by forcing yet another Paladin punt.
Luke Doty started the next drive at the quarterback spot despite there still being 22 minutes of clock remaining in the game. Doty and running back Mario Anderson led the Gamecocks down the field before a few Doty incompletions forced a punt that Xavier Legette downed at the 1-yard line with a tremendous effort that made special teams coordinator Pete Lembo grin from ear to ear.
A deep shot from Furman opened the next drive when, despite getting blasted by linebacker Stone Blanton, Tyler Huff hit Josh Harris for a long gain past the good coverage from Marcellas Dial. However, just a few plays later, Jordan Strachan made it home for South Carolina football’s third sack of the night to win the ball back once again for his team.
It was LaNorris Sellers’ time for the Gamecocks after the Furman punt. The true freshman led a short drive before absolutely uncorking a 50-yard seed to Tyshawn Russell for a touchdown. A bobbled snap on the PAT likely erased the Pete Lembo good will earned by Legette’s play earlier, but the Gamecocks were up 40-14 after scoring 33 straight points.
The good vibes continued as Gamecock EDGE Terrell Dawkins tipped a pass at the line of scrimmage, resulting in a big man interception for true freshman defensive tackle Xzavier McLeod.
Sellers stayed in the game for the offense, and freshman running back DJay Braswell got his first playing time. The duo drove the ball down the field before Sellers hit fellow true freshman (and 5-star prospect and Olympic hopeful) Nyckoles Harbor for a 7-yard score. At 47-14 with 10 minutes to go, the ballgame was over.
A couple of short drives followed without much action. Tanner Bailey then lost a fumble after getting hit in the backfield for the Gamecock’s first turnover of the season. Furman scored on the very next play to make the score 47-21 with under 5:00 minutes to play.
From there, the walk-ons and deep bench players got the remainder of the snaps.
***Graphic should read “Furman Paladins,” not “South Carolina Furman Paladins”
Spencer Rattler and Xavier Legette continued their elite play. Rattler finished 25-27 with 345 yards and 3 touchdowns (plus a rushing touchdown). On the season, he is 55-66 with 698 yards, 4 total touchdowns, and 0 turnovers. Legette added 6 catches tonight for 118 yards and a touchdown, bringing his 2023 total to 15 catches for 296 yards and 1 touchdown.