USC pulls away late, beat Wofford
Usually Saturdays before rivalry weekend are reserved for cupcake opponents that come in for a blowout, not a top-10 FCS team leading its conference.
South Carolina found out the danger of playing the latter Saturday against Wofford as the Terriers would keep things close until midway through the third quarter, but the Gamecocks ended up pulling out a 31-10 win.
It clinches the Gamecocks’ first eight-win season since winning 11 in 2013 in the team's final tune-up before hosting Clemson next week.
Wofford would go up early on a field goal on the offense’s opening drive, but South Carolina (8-3, 5-3 SEC) would immediately respond with a 12-play, 50-yard drive, capped by a Jake Bentley touchdown run, to take the lead.
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It was Bentley’s fifth rushing touchdown, which leads the team, and he’d tack on another later in the game with the Gamecocks up just four, which was sparked by an A.J. Turner 30-yard run.
“It feels great because we know it’s a problem for defenses," Turner said. "When one guy goes in and another guy comes out it’s not a drop-off. I feel like that takes a taxing toll on a defense.”
The sophomore quarterback would also notch a touchdown pass with less than a minute left in the first half, an absolute strike from 23 yards out to Bryan Edwards.
It was Edwards’ first touchdown catch since Nov. 4 against Georgia.
After taking an 11-point lead with roughly six minutes to go in the third quarter on Bentley’s second rushing touchdown of the day, the Gamecocks would sit on the ball, rushing 13 times in the fourth quarter.
It was one of South Carolina’s most productive rushing attacks of the season. The Gamecocks would pick up 195 on the ground and averaged 5.1 yards per carry, the best since averaging 5.72 against Vanderbilt.
Bentley and Turner would both get rushing touchdowns, Turner's a short two-yard burst for the putaway touchdown late.
Also see: What were the keys to victory Saturday?
Defensively, the Gamecocks struggled to stop the run at times, giving up two drives of 70 yards or more to the Terriers, but didn’t give up that many points. Of the eight drives the Gamecocks had defensively, they only gave up points on two of them.
The Terriers, who came into Saturday averaging 260 yards rushing per game, picked up 155 on the ground and averaged 3.8 yards per carry.
“I mean I feel like overall we played good striking blocks. I was getting confused because I haven’t seen it since high school. At the same time they were real short, so it was just hard,” Javon Kinlaw said. “Somebody ripped my pants. I don’t know how that happened.”
The Gamecocks would win the turnover margin with Skai Moore picking up his 14th career interception, tying a school record, and Dante Sawyer recovering a fumble early in the fourth quarter.
Rashad Fenton also capped the defensive performance with an interception, his first of the season.
It was Sawyer's fifth forced fumble of the year, and South Carolina is now 5-0 when winning the turnover margin.
Saturday also marks the Gamecocks' 600th win in program history.
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Moment that mattered: After Bentley scored to make it a two-score game, the Gamecock defense would stuff Wofford on a fourth-and-two to set up a short field and a scoring drive.
Player of the game: Jake Bentley would make all the plays he needed to make, throwing for 194 yards and rushing for another 11. He had three total touchdowns, two on the ground and one on a pass to Edwards.
Up next: South Carolina hosts its regular season finale next Saturday against arch-rival Clemson. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on ESPN.