Alabama players react to sequence that won game, prevented field storm by USC fans
Deonte Lawson practices a lot on stripping the football loose. It finally paid off.
The Alabama senior linebacker stripped South Carolina quarterback LaNorris Sellers of the ball late in the fourth quarter Saturday. Tide teammate Tim Keenan recovered it.
Minutes later, the Crimson Tide scored the game-winning touchdown with 34 seconds left. No. 4 Alabama survived an upset attempt from South Carolina, 29-22, at Williams-Brice Stadium.
“Been working at that for who knows how long,” Lawson said. “Coach says it takes 100 rips at the ball just to get one. Definitely a big play for our team and I am just doing everything I can to help this team win.
“South Carolina is a good team. When you see they get things clicking, they are tough to stop. We were able to make the plays in the end.”
Keenan, the other player on the game-changing play, was holding up Sellers so Lawson could force the fumble. He said it took him a split second to realize the ball was on the ground but immediately pounced on it.
“I looked underneath and the ball was right there so I grabbed it,” Keenan said.
The fumble came less than 30 seconds after Alabama drove down and tied the game with a Ty Simpson pass to Germie Bernard and then a two-point conversion.
South Carolina fans were sensing a possible upset, much like the one that happened 15 years ago when the Gamecocks knocked off then-No. 1 Alabama, 35-21. Some members of that team on hand Saturday along with head coach Steve Spurrier, but the Gamecocks couldn’t close things out this time.
After the game, some Alabama players headed toward the USC student section waving goodbye to them and celebrating.
“I didn’t see it,” Keenan said of fans preparing to storm the field if the Gamecocks had won. “We were in the game and weren’t paying attention to the crowd. But I guess they didn’t get to storm the field.”
The song “Sandstorm,” USC’s unofficial anthem during games, could be heard blaring from Alabama’s locker room, which has become common now for teams to do after they win at South Carolina. Oklahoma played it last week, and LSU did the same last year.
It also was a relief for Alabama, which has struggled against unranked opponents in Kalen DeBoer’s two seasons. The Tide entered the day with a 7-4 record against unranked teams over the last two years.
“Any game in the SEC is critical. Every game in the SEC is a heavyweight fight,” Simpson said. “These guys are well-coached. Coach Beamer has a good thing going here. They are very dangerous because of the amount of players they have on both sides of the ball. … Super proud of the guys. The defense never gave up, never put us in a bad spot, fighting their balls off. I can’t thank them enough.”
