Recap: Gamecocks hold on to edge ECU, 20-15, in home opener

After opening the 2016 season by splitting a pair of road contests at Vanderbilt and Mississippi State, South Carolina returned to Columbia for the home opener against East Carolina on Saturday afternoon. How did the Gamecocks fare?

FINAL:South Carolina 20, East Carolina 15

ECU: 3-3-0-9 = 15

USC: 17-0-0-3 = 20

SCORING SUMMARY

1Q – USC, Brandon McIlwain 9-yard run, 14:43 (7-0)

1Q – USC, Brandon McIlwain 10-yard run, 10:47 (14-0)

1Q – USC, Elliott Fry 37-yard field goal, 7:58 (17-0)

1Q – ECU, Davis Plowman 32-yard field goal, 3:37 (17-3)

2Q – ECU, Davis Plowman 43-yard field goal, 5:01 (17-6)

3Q - No Scoring

4Q - ECU, Davis Plowman 45-yard field goal, 8:42 (17-9)

4Q - SC , Elliott Fry 39-yard field goal, 6:24 (20-9)

4Q - ECU, Devin Anderson 4-yard pass from Nelson (2-pt try failed), 2:29 (20-15)

FIRST QUARTER: The Gamecocks couldn’t have envisioned a better start to the game. Redshirt freshman A.J. Turner returned the opening kickoff 80 yards to the ECU 18. A horse-collar tackle moved the ball 9 yards closer, meaning McIlwain’s first snap as the starting QB was taken at the ECU 9. On the first snap, McIlwain faked a handoff, kept the ball and swept around the right side for his first career touchdown. After stopping the ECU defense, McIlwain completed a deep pass along the left sideline to Bryan Edwards for 42 yards to the ECU 30. True freshman QB to true freshman WR. David Williams’s 20-yard run set up McIlwain’s 10-yard TD run that look very similar to his first score. Suddenly, less than 5 minutes into the game, the Gamecocks enjoyed a 14-0 lead. Four plays into ECU’s ensuing possession, Chris Lammons blitzed off the corner and forced a fumble from ECU QB Philip Nelson. Dane sawyer fell on the football at the ECU 29. The Gamecocks converted the turnover into a Elliot Fry 37-yard field goal to give the Gamecocks a 17-0 lead with 7:58 left in the first quarter. Back-to-back completions by Nelson to stud receiver Zay Jones highlighted ECU’s ensuing drive. The Gamecocks stopped the Pirates in the red zone and ECU settled for a 32-yard field goal with 3:37 left in the first quarter.

END FIRST QTR: South Carolina 17, East Carolina 3

SECOND QUARTER: ECU drove as far as the USC 25 early in the third quarter before a nice third-down tackle by Bryson Allen-Williams produced a 1-yard loss and forced the Pirates to settle for a 43-yard field goal with 12:05 left in the second quarter. BAW’s play was the fifth TFL of the game for the Gamecock defense. The Gamecocks gambled on fourth-and-1 at its 44 and McIlwain was buried by a horde of ECU tacklers for no gain, giving ECU very good field position with just over 10 minutes left in the 2Q. The Pirates drove to the 1-yard line, where they had third-and-goal. Nelson tried a fade pass into the left corner, but Gamecock CB Jamarcus King got good leverage on the ECU receiver and intercepted the pass. The play was reviewed and the call upheld. However, USC went 3-and-out, giving the Pirates the ball back at the ECU 32 with 4:20 left in the 2Q. ECU punted the ball back and the Gamecocks regained possession at its 9-yard line with 2:20 left. David Williams ripped off a 15-yard run to the SC38 on the final play of the first half, but no time remained to do anything else.

HALFTIME: South Carolina 17, East Carolina 6

THIRD QUARTER: Another red zone stop for the Gamecocks on ECU’s first possession of the third quarter. The Pirates took the opening kickoff and drove into the red zone as far as the SC 6 before Chris Lammons, continuing his strong game, jumped a route at the pylon and intercepted Nelson’s pass to deny the Pirates again inside the 10-yard line. USC gladly took over at the 1-yard line. McIlwain connected with Randrecous Davis for a 26-yard pass that was initially ruled incomplete but overruled on review, pulling the Gamecocks out of danger. Eventually, USC drove past midfield before punting. With Nelson completing four straight passes plus a pass interference flag on Lammons, ECU drove from its 16 to the SC 8. When a third run was stuffed, the Pirates attempted a 25-yrd field goal with just over 5 minutes left in the 3Q. But the kick was partially blocked as ECU was held without a point for the third time inside the red zone. The Pirates were 1-for-4 scoring in the red zone. The scoreless third quarter ended ith ECU at the 45-yard line.

END THIRD QTR: South Carolina 17, East Carolina 6.

FOURTH QUARTER: Two pass interference calls on the Gamecocks plus a pair of completions by Nelson allowed the Pirates to drive to the SC 10. Running back Anthony Scott took the handcuff and powered into the 5-yard line but Antoine Wilder hammered Scott and forced a fumble into the end zone, where D.J. Smith fell onto the football for a touchback. Incredibly, the squandered scoring opportunity marked the fourth time today the Pirates had penetrated the red zone without scoring. But USC went 3-and-outand Sean Kelly shanked a punt to give ECU good field possession. This time they took advantage as a 28-yard completion led a 45-yard field goal with 8:42 left. But the Gamecocks responded with their first scoring drive since midway in the first quarter as McIlwain connected with Crosby (19 yards) and Hurst (36 yards) in long passes to move the ball to the ECU 20. However, the drive stalled and Fry booted a 39-yard field goal, giving him 8 points on the afternoon, as USC regained a two-score lead at 20-9 with 6:24 left. ECU promptly drove 75 yards in 13 plays to score its first touchdown of the afternoon. The Pirates went for the two-point conversion, but the throwback pass intended for Nelson fell incomplete. The Gamecocks dodged a bullet when the officials did not call pass interference on USC. Hayden Hurst recovered the onsides kick with 2:29 remaining and needed to pick up at least 1 first down to clinch the victory. The Gamecocks faced a critical third-and-3 at the ECU 42. McIlwain rolled right and hit Crosby for a 2-yard gain to the ECU 40, setting up fourth-and-1. Kurt Roper called for the option pitch and McIlwain and David Williams executed it perfectly as he ran all the way to the ECU 15. Ballgame. Gamecocks improved to 2-1 and snapped a 3-game home losing streak.

FINAL STATS

Total Yards: USC 312, ECU 519

Passing Yards: USC 195, ECU 400

Rushing Yards: USC 119, ECU 117

TOP: USC 21:35, ECU 38:25

Third Downs: USC 5-14, ECU 3-12

Red Zone: USC 4-5 (2 TD, 2 FG, ECU 2-6 (1 TD, 1 FG)