Skai Moore’s ‘knack’ for big plays saved USC

North Carolina’s first and last drives against South Carolina Thursday night ended in identical fashion — with USC linebacker Skai Moore picking off Tar Heels quarterback Marquise Williams in the end zone.

Moore’s first pick came after UNC took seven plays to go from its own 36-yard line to the South Carolina 6-yard line. His second came with the Gamecocks clinging to a four-point lead, and it all but sealed the win for USC.

South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier said afterward he wasn’t surprised to see his MIKE linebacker come up with big plays in big situations.

“Skai can pick the ball off. He does it in practice all the time,” Spurrier said. “As everybody knows, if you play cover two, that middle linebacker down the middle, he’s got to cover a lot of range and (Moore) has a knack of watching the quarterback. Those were the plays that won the game. Skai Moore did it.”

The junior seems to be in the right spot at the right time and has picked off nine passes in his career. USC co-defensive coordinator Lorenzo Ward said it’s not a coincidence that Moore always seems to be around the ball.

“We played a zone coverage. We had been playing a lot of man in that area and we played cover two in that situation,” Ward said. “The quarterback, I guess, made a bad read. But Skai did a good job of reading his eyes, and that’s what he does a good job of.”

Moore said when North Carolina lined up at the USC 8-yard line on fourth-and-8 with the game on the line, he had a hunch he would be tested.

“I had a feeling he was going to try to hit it in the middle of the field somewhere,” Moore said. “I just dropped back and sat in that area.”

In addition to his two interceptions, Moore also led the Gamecocks with 10 tackles. He had twice as many as any other player. Ward said he’s grown accustomed to seeing Moore fly to the ball.

“Skai’s our leader. Skai’s our MIKE linebacker. He makes all of the calls,” Ward said. “He’s the quarterback of the defense, just like Connor Mitch is of the offense. He’s the quarterback of the defense and he should make plays. He’s a guy that’s played a lot of ballgames.”

Moore wasn’t the only Gamecock who stepped up defensively as South Carolina shut out North Carolina in the second half to preserve the win. USC hadn’t shut out an opponent in a half since holding Florida scoreless in the second half in 2013.

“It was a big win. We wanted to come out here and prove a point, and I think we did that defensively,” Moore said, adding USC played more sound in the second half. “We were killing ourselves basically in the first half because people just weren’t running their assignments. We just had to do our job and execute.”

South Carolina struggled late in games in 2014, blowing three two-touchdown leads in the fourth quarter. On Thursday, after USC turned the ball over on downs, the Gamecocks came up with a much-needed stop.

“We loved that. We were hype on the field saying it’s our time,” Moore said. “We’ve got to prove to the world and show them what type of defense we are and we did that.”

This story was originally published September 4, 2015 at 6:15 PM with the headline "Skai Moore’s ‘knack’ for big plays saved USC."