In The 3-2-1, we break down the key plays, hand out game balls, and ask the burning question from South Carolina’s win over Virginia Tech.
Three Key Plays
1. Third-down Sellers
On its first possession, South Carolina moved the ball efficiently into the red zone. But after a couple of short runs, the Gamecocks faced a third and five from the 15. LaNorris Sellers took a quarterback draw up the middle for a touchdown. It was the game’s only touchdown until the fourth quarter.
2. Rekick
The Current Beamer Ball got the better of the Original Beamer Ball.
Early in the fourth quarter, South Carolina forced a Virginia Tech punt that bounced harmlessly out of bounds at the Gamecock 26. But Virginia Tech was flagged for an illegal formation, and Shane Beamer made the Hokies rekick.
Vicari Swain, who muffed a punt earlier in the game, fielded the kick at the 20. He cut left, split the defenders, cut right, ran passed a tackle, ran through another tackle, got a block, juked a tackle, spun out of a tackle, and slipped through a diving tackle, and dove for the end zone. It was South Carolina’s first punt return for a touchdown since Ace Sanders had one in the 2013 Outback Bowl.
3. Nyck to the Post
Everyone who plays EA College Football knows the play: Nyck Harbor on a deep post. If there’s no safety over the top, he’ll run past the corner for an easy touchdown. It finally worked in real life, too. Harbor’s 64-yard touchdown catch was the longest of his career and essentially iced the game.
Two Game Balls
Fred “JayR” Johnson
Johnson was everywhere on Sunday. He had a team-high 10 tackles, picked off a pass in the end zone, broke up another third-down pass, and repeatedly stuffed Virginia Tech’s running backs.
Dylan Stewart
I usually give a game ball to offense and defense, but the defense bailed out the offense for a long stretch in the middle of the game. Stewart had seven tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, and a game-changing sack. The sack, coupled with an unnecessary roughness penalty on Virginia Tech on the same play, killed Virginia Tech’s drive when the Hokies had all the momentum and looked like they were about to take the lead. Stewart was in the backfield all game.
One Burning Question
Can the offensive line get better?
After scoring on its first drive, South Carolina’s offense sputtered until the fourth quarter, mainly because the offensive line couldn’t consistently open holes for the running backs or protect Sellers on passing downs. The numbers ended up looking okay: 4.7 sack-adjusted yards per carry, but they were padded by a handful of big runs and scrambles from Sellers.
The line gave up a safety in the first quarter and four total sacks. In the first half, South Carolina averaged 0.2 yards per rush on first down. It’s tough to do anything on offense when you can’t run on first down.
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