Quick-Strike Offense Gives No. 6/7 Gamecocks 27-10 Win over North Carolina
COLUMBIA, S.C. - Quick
offensive strikes from Connor Shaw and Mike Davis helped No. 6/7 South
Carolina (1-0) dispatch of North Carolina (0-1) 27-10 in the college
football season opener at Williams-Brice Stadium.
On the third
play from scrimmage, the senior quarterback Shaw found sophomore wide
receiver Shaq Roland over the middle for a 65-yard touchdown strike,
putting the Gamecocks in the lead 7-0. The 82-yard drive marked the
quickest score for South Carolina in a season in the SEC era (since
1992). Shaw ended the contest going 11-for-20 for 149 yards and the one
TD pass while adding 43 yards on the ground.
Davis, the
sophomore running back who won the starting job in fall camp, capped
South Carolina's scoring with his third-quarter, 75-yard run over the
right side to make it 27-10. Davis ended the day with a career-high 115
yards on 12 carries.
South Carolina held a 17-0 lead before the
first quarter ended, with freshman Elliott Fry's first collegiate field
goal, a 39-yarder, making it 10-0. Junior quarterback Dylan Thompson,
on his first play of the game, made it 17-0 with a 29-yard touchdown
throw to sophomore wide receiver Kane Whitehurst.
In the second
quarter, North Carolina got on the board on Bryn Renner's four-yard
pass to Quinshad Davis, but Fry's second field goal, this one from 26
yards, handed South Carolina a 20-7 lead that stood at the half. The
Gamecocks doubled the Tar Heels in first downs in the first half, 12-6,
and tallied more yards, 260-121. Seventy of UNC's yards came on its
scoring drive.
The Tar Heels opened the second half with a
17-play, 67-yard drive capped by a Thomas Moore 20-yard field goal
before Davis' 75-yard dash.
The game was halted at 8:46 p.m. due
to lightning in the area, delaying the game for 1:44. After the break,
North Carolina threatened to score with two minutes to go, but a dive
toward the end zone by Renner fell a yard short on fourth-and-goal,
turning the ball back over downs to the Gamecocks with 58 seconds
remaining.
Sophomore running back Brandon Wilds ran for 64 yards
on 12 carries, while junior Nick Jones and Roland both matched career
bests in receptions with four and two, respectively. Four Gamecock
defenders (Sharrod Golightly, T.J. Gurley, Chaz Sutton & Ahmad
Christian) matched or bettered their previous career high in tackles,
and sophomore Gerald Dixon Jr. posted his first career tackle and
quarterback hurry.
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