Elliott Fry has big celebration planned for next game-winner

The night worked out almost perfectly for South Carolina senior place-kicker Elliott Fry on Thursday.

Fry hit a career-long 55-yard field goal to give the Gamecocks a dramatic 13-10 win over Vanderbilt. The only blemish on the moment is that it came with 35 seconds left in the game and not with three seconds. If had been three seconds, Fry could have used the back flip celebration he’s been planning.

“The back flip is for if there is three seconds left because I am not going to get a 15-yard penalty,” Fry said. “That’s for the end of a game. We’ve already thought it out for a run-off-the-field situation.”

For now, this one will have to do. Fry’s previous career long was 52 yards, but he was confident he could hit a 55-yarder into the closed end of Vanderbilt’s stadium with the wind at his back. Fry just missed a 62-yarder at that end of the field during warmups, he said.

“I knew I could get in there with the wind,” he said.

The kick tied for the second-longest in school history behind Mark Fleetwood’s 58-yarder against Georgia in 1982. Ryan Succup also hit a 55-yarder at Vanderbilt (2006).

Fry was 2-for-2 on the night. He also hit a 48-yarder in the third quarter. He realized with about four minutes left in the game that it probably was going to come down to a last-minute kick, he said.

“Me and all the specialists were over there saying, ‘Man, this could be it.’ After that I was kind of locked in,” he said.

When the kick sailed through, he leapt with joy on the sideline but quickly ran back out for the ensuing kickoff.

“I definitely hit it well,” he said. “I felt like it was definitely there, but I wanted to wait until I got the signal because I think I would have looked pretty stupid if I had started cheering and it had come up short.”

Mixed Bag

Redshirt freshman running back A.J. Turner made the first start of his career Thursday night, but the day didn’t start the way he had hoped. Turner fielded the game’s opening kickoff and seemed confused about whether to run the ball out or take a touchback. After almost crossing the goal line, he took a knee in the end zone.

“Honestly, I was confused myself,” Turner said. “I made a mistake. I didn’t listen to my off returner. I know next time we can’t do that.”

Turner’s day ended better, with a career-high 70 yards on 13 carries.

“He’s a good back. Y’all see why we like him,” head coach Will Muschamp said. “He is a guy who can crease you and create a big play run. He’s got really good top end speed.”

Muschamp also was impressed with Turner’s yards after contact.

“We work on that in practice every day. We call it bull yards,” Turner said. Running backs coach Bobby “Bentley always stresses yards after contact and we always do drills throughout practice throughout the week to get bull yards.”

Conservative Calls?

Muschamp took issue with the offensive game plan being called “conservative” after the game. Sophomore wide receiver Deebo Sameul explained that the large number of screen passes in the first half was a response to the type of defense played by the Commodores.

“We knew they played off man so we were trying to do quick passes, get the ball in people’s hands and make plays,” Samuel said.

Impressive debut

Freshman wide receiver Bryan Edwards’ eight catches for 101 yards impressed his teammates and his coaches. Edwards led the Gamecocks in receiving and caught half of the 16 passes South Carolina completed.

“He’s a big-time playmaker,” Samuel said. “When the pressure was on, he was there to make the catch. He’s been doing that since the spring, since he got here.”

O-Line Issues

Starting right guard Donnell Stanley suffered an ankle injury on South Carolina’s first drive of the game, forcing the Gamecocks to move starting right tackle D.J. Park to guard and insert sophomore Blake Camper at right tackle. Park and Camper both reacted well to the change, Muschamp said.

“I thought (Camper) did really well,” Muschamp said.

This story was originally published September 2, 2016 at 3:40 PM with the headline "Elliott Fry has big celebration planned for next game-winner."