Still kicking: Late heroics lift USC past La. Tech

One of the most improbable comebacks in memory averted one of the most embarrassing losses in South Carolina’s history.

The Gamecocks survived with a 17-16 victory over 9.5-point underdog Louisiana Tech when Parker White hit a 31-yard field goal with four seconds remaining Saturday at Williams-Brice Stadium. Until that kick, White was 0-for-2 on the day and 0-for-4 in his career on field-goal attempts.

“The first half didn’t go the way I wanted to, didn’t make my kicks, but the biggest thing as a kicker is you have to forget about the previous kicks, just move on to the next one,” said White, a freshman walk-on from Mount Pleasant. “That’s what I did, and I was fortunate enough to be able to make it.”

That doesn’t tell the whole story of Saturday’s wackiness. The Gamecocks (3-1) trailed 13-0 with 12 minutes left in the game, appeared on the verge of being put away in the third quarter until a Jamarcus King interception set up a 97-yard scoring drive. They then lost the lead with 55 seconds remaining when Louisiana Tech (2-2) went ahead 16-14 on a 25-yard Jonathan Barnes field goal.

South Carolina’s final drive started with 51 seconds remaining at its 21-yard line, and the first two plays were incomplete passes. Quarterback Jake Bentley kept his team’s chances alive with a 24-yard scramble to the 45-yard line and then hustled to the line of scrimmage and heaved a deep pass to Bryan Edwards, who brought down a 41-yard reception that bounced off his chest before he came down with it at the Louisiana Tech 14-yard line with seven seconds remaining, setting up White’s attempt.

“A very gutty performance by our guys,” USC coach Will Muschamp said. “They fought their tails off. There weren’t a lot of positive things going on, and our guys fought through it. That says a lot about the resiliency and the effort of our football team. Everyone kept fighting their butts off, and our guys gave a great effort.”

The Gamecocks bounced back from last week’s loss to Kentucky and improved to 5-0-1 all-time against Louisiana Tech, which is coached by former South Carolina assistant Skip Holtz.

“There’s no moral victory here,” Holtz said. “We’re not walking out of here jumping up and down, excited because it was a close football game. We came in here with the mindset that we wanted to win.”

They almost did. In fact, many of the 71,821 who showed up at the game left before the home team scored a point, but King’s interception at the South Carolina 3-yard line turned the tide.

The Gamecocks ended up with a season-high 438 yards to the Bulldogs’ 361.

“Are there things we need to correct? Yeah, come on, but certainly our guys are fighting though it and getting to the fourth quarter and making plays,” Muschamp said. “As we start moving forward, there are going to be more games like this. It didn’t look good, and our guys kept fighting. That says a lot about the character we have in that locker room.”

THREE POINTS

Star of the game: Edwards had his first breakout game of the season and at just the right time. In the first game without Deebo Samuel, broken leg, the sophomore had six catches for a career-high 122 yards, including the 41-yarder that set up the game-winning field goal. “Probably about two times a week in practice, we have one-minute situations, and we run those types of plays, situational football,” Edwards said. “We had to make a play to win the game, and that’s we did.”

Play of the game: Freshman wide receiver OrTre Smith made the second biggest catch of the year and the one that sparked the comeback, a 28-yard grab across the middle where he bounced off two Bulldogs defenders to get into the end zone and got South Carolina’s first score of the game. It was his second touchdown in as many weeks. “I was really proud of OrTre Smith today,” Muschamp said.

Stat of the game: Both offenses had a good day on third down. South Carolina was 8-for-14 on third down, and Louisiana Tech was 6-for-13. In its first scoring drive of the game, a 97-yard march in the fourth quarter, the Gamecocks converted three third downs and a fourth down.

OBSERVATIONS

Running revival: The Gamecocks, who entered the game 119^th in the nation in rushing with 85.7 yards per game, had 143 yards on the ground, 89 in the second half.

Injury attack: After a healthy preseason camp and first two weeks of the season, South Carolina’s injury luck has run out. Samuel will be out at least five weeks and watched Saturday’s game from the press box with the USC coaches. Starting right tackle Zack Bailey (ankle) also missed the game, but both of those injuries already were known. Defensive lineman Dante Sawyer (hamstring) missed the game but is expected to return next week against Texas A&M. Starting left guard Cory Helms suffered an ankle injury in the first quarter and was replaced by Sadarius Hutcherson. Helms is questionable for next week. Running back Rico Dowdle was limited by a quad bruise and aggravated the injury, and backup place-kicker Alexander Woznick was not available because of due to a groin injury. Bryson Allen-Williams will miss the remainder of the season with a shoulder injury.

This story was originally published September 23, 2017 at 6:38 PM with the headline "Still kicking: Late heroics lift USC past La. Tech."