Gamecocks Fall to Auburn, 16-13
COLUMBIA, S.C. -
Auburn's Philip Lutzenkirchen hauled in a 9-yard touchdown pass
fromBarrett Trotter with 1:38 left in the fourth quarter to lift the
Tigers to a 16-13 victory over No. 10/9 South Carolina on Saturday at
Williams-Brice Stadium.
The Gamecocks attempted to drive the
field for a game-tying field goal after Auburn’s go-ahead touchdown,
but time expired after Stephen Garcia completed a 12-yard pass to Bruce
Ellington down to the Auburn 30-yard line.
“We’re not
heartbroken,” South Carolina head coach Steve Spurrier said. “We
haven’t played well enough to expect to win. We lost to this team last
year and still came back and won the Eastern Division. If we can
regroup somehow offensively, we’re going to be okay.”
With the
loss, South Carolina falls to 4-1 on the season and 2-1 in the SEC.
Auburn improves to 4-1 overall and 2-0 in conference play.
South
Carolina led for a majority of the second half after sophomore running
back Marcus Lattimore’s 15-yard touchdown run at the 5:58 mark of the
third quarter gave the Gamecocks a 13-9 lead.
But the Tigers,
who ran 92 plays on offense and held the ball for nearly 36 minutes,
used a 12-play, 57-yard scoring drive capped by Lutzenkirchen’s 9-yard
touchdown reception to win the game.
Lattimore finished with 66
yards and a touchdown on 17 carries. With the score, Lattimore moved to
No. 3 on South Carolina’s career touchdowns list with 29 and into a tie
for fifth on the career rushing touchdowns list with 26. Alshon Jeffery
grabbed five passes for 86 yards and a score for the Gamecocks, while
Garcia connected on 9-of-23 pass attempts for 160 yards, a touchdown
and two interceptions.
Sophomore running back Michael Dyer had a
stellar performance to lead Auburn, rushing for a game-high 141 yards
and a touchdown on a school-record 41 carries. Onterio McCalebb and
Kiehl Frazier added 58 and 48 yards on the ground, respectively.
Trotter was 12-of-23 for 112 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions.
The
defenses combined to force eight turnovers in the contest. Senior Spur
Antonio Allen recorded 13 stops, including three for a loss, and one
interception for the Gamecocks, while Melvin Ingram tallied 11 tackles,
3.5 sacks and an interception. Ingram is now the SEC’s active career
leader in sacks and is No. 4 on South Carolina’s all-time sacks list.
Reginald Bowens also had 11 tackles for South Carolina.
“Our
defensive team had a heck of a game, but (Auburn) made some third downs
on us there at the end,” Spurrier said. “Give Auburn credit. They
played pretty well.”
Demetruce McNeal finished with eight tackles and an interception to lead Auburn.
The
Gamecocks return to action on Saturday, Oct. 8 at home against
Kentucky. Kickoff is set for 12:21 p.m. at Williams-Brice Stadium.
|