South Carolina falls to No. 11 LSU, 20-10 in defensive battle

South Carolina returned to play following its bye with a 24-10 loss to No. 11 LSU that saw the Gamecocks a few plays away throughout.

The loss marked the Gamecocks’ eighth straight loss to the Tigers. The LSU win streak goes back to a 1995 tie, 20-20. Officially, the streak is three straight as the Tigers’ 2012 and 2015 wins were vacated by the NCAA. South Carolina’s last win over LSU came in 1994 in Baton Rouge, 18-17.

“We’re a good, really good team,” Peyton Williams said. “We got to go out there (and) continue to put the ball down.”

Despite controlling the turnover battle, not being able to finish drives doomed the Gamecocks, in head coach Shane Beamer’s eyes.

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The Gamecock defense got off to a hot start, continuing LSU’s struggles with opening drive offense, forcing a Tigers three-and-out. LSU has not scored on its opening drive so far this season.

However, as soon as the Gamecocks got the ball, the Tigers got it right back as center Rodney Newsom Jr. couldn’t secure the ball in LaNorris Sellers’ arms on the opening play. Luckily for the Gamecocks, the Tigers were unable to turn the good field position into six, settling for a 27-yard field goal three plays later.

Coming into the week, Beamer discussed avoiding an early hole, as they have in every other conference game this year. Late in the opening quarter, South Carolina saw a 10-0 deficit staring them in the face as the Tigers drove down the field and Tiger Stadium’s crowd got into the game.

Then, luck struck for the Gamecocks while backed up in their own goal line. LSU fumbled the ball in the endzone after a rush from the one-yard line. The result of the play gave the Gamecocks the ball at their own 20. The Gamecocks quickly capitalized on the Tigers’ turnover as redshirt freshman Matthew Fuller broke a 72-yard run into the endzone. By the end of the quarter, South Carolina turned a potential 10-0 deficit into a 7-3 lead.

“I wouldn’t say it’s a gift,” Beamer said of the turnovers South Carolina forced on Saturday night. “So, I’d say we worked the hell out of it and showed what we do, what we work. We showed our players those plays exactly. Arkansas lost a game to Memphis two weeks ago in a similar scenario. We showed them that the other night.”

Beamer also compared the turnovers to a situation between the New York Jets and the Miami Dolphins on Monday night. It was another scenario Beamer showed his players.

Penalties returned as an issue for the Gamecocks. In the opening half, South Carolina saw itself pick up six for 40 yards. Four of those six penalties were formation penalties on offense.

The penalties became increasingly frustrating to Sellers.

“I’d be driving the ball down the field, get to the redzone or get a chance to score or something, just to get a penalty or something like that happens,” Sellers said postgame. “So, I mean, just something we got to continue to work on and get better at.”

Even despite the penalties, Beamer said the plays that didn’t work he’ll have to look back at the film and see what happened.

LSU opened the second quarter, driving down the field, retaking the lead over the Gamecocks 10-7. The Tigers scoring drive was punctuated with a six-yard reception by Trey-Dez Green. The LSU touchdown became the final points of the half as both teams exchanged turnovers and stalled out drives.

When the game resumed, South Carolina slowed things down as they went on a six-minute drive. The 11-play drive ended in Joyce redeeming his earlier 47-yard miss with a make from the same distance. However, four plays later, LSU retook the lead on a 43-yard connection from Garrett Nussmeier to Kyle Parker for six.

Green continued to be the difference maker for the Tigers’ offense as the 6-foot-7-inch tight end continued to out-jump every Gamecock defender. Green finished Saturday’s game with eight catches for 119 yards.

Following a Gamecock punt, LSU began driving down the field and started to look like the put-away drive for the Tigers as LSU drove back into the red zone. However, for the second time on the night, the Gamecocks made a crucial turnover in the endzone to give their offense the ball back. That said, unlike last time, South Carolina had to start at its own one. The Gamecocks would take a 13-play drive after, however, it’d end in a South Carolina punt as the Gamecocks continued to struggle to find offense in the second half.

South Carolina star LaNorris Sellers finished the night with 124 passing yards, completing 15 of his 27 attempts. Beamer said the quarterback battled his “rear end off.”

“He was under, we hadw some injuries,” Beamer said. “We had some injuries. He was under pressure.”

However, Beamer did note that the sophomore needed to be better on intentional grounding penalties. Sellers picked up two in Saturday night’s loss, both on third down.

“I mean, if we’re going to throw it away, we got to get out the pocket,” Beamer said. “But he gave us an opportunity to win. He’ll be the first to tell you when he comes in here, he missed some throws.”

The pressure LSU was able to put on on top of the the Gamecocks offensive struggles compounded, Sellers said.

“It’s just a mix of everything, really, like, offensively, you got to have all 11 guys on the same page,” Sellers said. “So, it’s kind of like, they may bring a pressure we didn’t see, kudos to them, they dialed some stuff up.”

Both teams had two weeks to prepare, Sellers said, but LSU brought some good stuff on Saturday night.

It’s frustrating not being able to capitalize on those defensive stops, DQ Smith said.

“We always prepared to come out here to win,” Smith said. “So, just not being able to get the win, you know, it’s a team game. So, you know, we’ll have to be better on offense.”

Both teams would exchange punts after, and as South Carolina drove within the Tigers’ 40, they’d turn it over on downs with just over five minutes remaining.

When LSU got the ball back, they’d drive back to the South Carolina goalline. While the Gamecocks wouldn’t allow a touchdown, LSU still put a field goal through. The Tigers’ two-score lead effectively put the game away.

South Carolina followed the LSU field goal with a three-and-out. LSU ran out the clock from there, officially sealing the win.

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