The moment South Carolina fans waited all season for came Saturday night.
Luke Doty came in and started the second half against Missouri for an offense needing a spark and provided somewhat of one but it wasn't enough for the Gamecocks to overcome an early deficit as South Carolina dropped their fourth-straight game.
The Gamecocks' comeback attempt fell short, 17-10 against Missouri.
It was a first half to forget for South Carolina, which put up 68 yards offensively and struggled to stop anything defensively.
After Shi Smith went out in the first series of the game, South Carolina found itself trailing 17-0 heading into halftime and that's when the Gamecocks decided to change things up from a starting quarterback perspective.
Doty came in, leading the Gamecocks on a drive that ended with points, cutting the deficit to 17-3.
The Gamecock freshman fans spent all season wanting to see on the field would show flashes. He'd finish going 14-for-23 for 130 yards and a quarterback rating of 99.7.
Doty also ran the ball 11 times for 59 yards, averaging 5.4 yards per carry as the Gamecocks struggled for the majority of the night offensively.
After putting up less than 70 yards in the first half South Carolina finished with 283 yards and averaged 4.1 yards per play.
Missouri didn't do anything particularly well on offense, but did move the ball down the field to the tune of 4.49 yards per play and scored enough points to win.
The Gamecocks struggled affecting quarterback Connor Bazelak, picking up just one sack on the night, as he threw for 203 yards (6.2 yards per attempt) with one touchdown and a pick.
The unit did get much better after halftime, not allowing a point and holding the Tigers to just 93 yards after halftime.
After the Gamecocks cut the deficit to just seven points, the defense held firm and forced a stop to give the ball back to Doty and the offense before the interception.
The Gamecocks would get near midfield before Doty fired an interception to end the threat.
South Carolina is now 2-6 and has two more games to avoid its first sub-three-win season since going winless in 1999.
