It seemed like a desperate move. South Carolina trailed in the third quarter 17-0 and backup quarterback Dylan Thompson looked lost and claustrophobic against Missouri’s swarming defense. So the Gamecocks turned to Connor Shaw, the starter who had sprained his knee a week earlier.
Shaw led them back, throwing two fourth-quarter touchdowns to force overtime, and then another touchdown to force a second overtime. South Carolina took the lead on a 40-yard field goal by Elliott Fry before Missouri kicker Andrew Baggett banged his 24-yard attempt off the left upright. The miss sealed a 27-24 victory for the Gamecocks and sent their players storming onto the field.
Despite the loss, Missouri remained in control of the SEC East division, still a game ahead of South Carolina in the loss column. If the Tigers win the rest of their regular-season games, including their finale against Texas A&M, they will earn a spot in the SEC championship game.
“I wasn’t even supposed to be playing in this game,” Shaw said. “They said I was supposed to be out 2-3 weeks.”
Missouri was playing its third consecutive ranked opponent coming off victories against Georgia, and then Florida without their senior quarterback, James Franklin, who separated his shoulder against the Bulldogs. With Franklin expected to be out several weeks, redshirt freshman Maty Mauk had kept the Tigers on track.
There was still reason to be skeptical of Missouri and coach Gary Pinkel. His teams had collapsed before. The Tigers started 5-0 in 2008, rose to No. 3 in the rankings, and lost their next two games. They started hot in 2010, too, going 7-0 and rising to No. 6 in the rankings. Again, they lost their next two games.
But South Carolina was reeling. The Gamecocks were upset last week by Tennessee, Shaw had a sprained knee and Jadeveon Clowney, their star defensive end, had been mostly neutralized and surrounded by drama.
On Saturday, Clowney found himself on the ground, helpless, as Marcus Murphy scored Missouri’s first touchdown. Murphy had bounced a run around the left side from 11 yards, breaking two tackles before Clowney grabbed his shoulders. Murphy, who is listed at 5-foot-9 and 195 pounds, shrugged him off and skipped into the end zone. Clowney rebounded to finish with five tackles, one quarterback hurry, and a batted pass.
On the ensuing possession, Thompson had the Gamecocks driving, when sophomore running back Mike Davis fumbled. Backed up by two penalties, Missouri’s drive stalled on the next possession, and then Thompson had South Carolina moving again, this time to goal line. Again, Davis fumbled.
Three plays later, on third-and-long, in the shadow of his own uprights, Mauk fired a pass to L’Damian Washington. He had lined up to Mauk’s right, darted in, shot up field and caught Mauk’s pass in stride. He accelerated past two defenders to finish the rest of a 96-yard touchdown reception and give Missouri a 14-0 lead.
Thompson tried to turn the momentum with one play, lofting a pass 54 yards. But John Gibson, the redshirt freshman cornerback playing in place of the injured E.J. Gaines, intercepted him near the sideline.
Missouri had extended its streak of forcing a turnover to 38 games, the longest active streak in the nation.
With the Gamecocks trailing by 14-0 entering the second half, Shaw replaced Thompson and ignited South Carolina. Meanwhile, Missouri’s offense stalled: The Tigers punted three times, made one field goal, and missed another.
South Carolina scored on three consecutive possession, the last a 2-yard pass from Shaw to Nick Jones with 42 seconds left in regulation.
In overtime, South Carolina and Missouri traded scores — a Murphy touchdown run, then a Shaw touchdown pass. In the second overtime, Shaw completed one pass for 3 yards, and South Carolina settled for a field goal.
There was still a sense the Tigers would pull through, that is until Baggett’s kick plunked the upright and shook the crowd awake, like cold water splashing the face.
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