Gamecocks hold off Kentucky

The Associated Press South Carolina’s Alshon Jeffery (1) scores a touchdown as Kentucky’s Randall Burden (24) defends during the first half the Gamecocks’ 28-26 win on Saturday in Columbia.

By PATRICK ENZOR
Item Assistant Sports Editor
penzor@theitem.com

COLUMBIA — Stephen Garcia threw for three touchdowns, ran for another and his leaping, acrobatic scramble on third down helped seal the deal for the University of South Carolina.

His first-down run with 2 ½ minutes left in the game allowed the Gamecocks to hold off a pesky Kentucky team 28-20 in front of a generous count of 68,278 fans on Saturday at Williams-Brice Stadium.

USC improves to 5-1 overall and 2-1 in the Southeastern Conference. With Georgia’s loss to Tennessee, the Gamecocks are in sole possession of second place in the SEC East.

Garcia completed 16 of 23 passes for 233 yards and three scores to wide receiver Alshon Jeffery.

“He had a couple of lousy ones (plays), but that leap on third-and-(four) for a first down was huge,” said USC head coach Steve Spurrier. “That was a big-time play and it sort of shows what he’s capable of.

“That might be his best play as a Gamecock,” he added.

Facing third-and-four from its 26-yard line and clinging to a 28-26 lead with just over three minutes left in the game, Garcia rolled out in hopes of finding fullback Patrick DiMarco open in the flats for a first down. However, UK cornerback Winston Guy read the play and shadowed DiMarco.

With his throwing option gone, Garcia tucked the ball. Guy came up to make the play and Garcia left his feet, twisted his body over Guy for the first down.

“It hurt,” smiled Garcia. “My back’s a little tight, but it was worth it.”

Kentucky converted two third-down conversions and one fourth-down conversion on its first drive of the game. Lones Seiber capped the 14-play, 54-yard drive with a 36-yard field goal for the game’s first points with 4:43 left in the first quarter.

On the ensuing kickoff, Chris Culliver became the school’s all-time leader in kickoff returns with a 61-yard return to the UK 34. Four plays later, Garcia put the Gamecocks on top with a 10-yard TD pass to Jeffery to make it 7-3 just 48 seconds after Seiber’s field goal.

That lead, however, last only 3 minutes, 21 seconds. The Wildcats went 59 yards on five plays — helped by a 31-yard pass from quarterback Mike Hartline to wide receiver Gene McCaskill down to the USC 11. A play later, Derrick Locke found paydirt and Seiber’s PAT made it 10-7 with 14:34 left in the second quarter.

Again Culliver came up big on a kickoff as he broke nine tackles on a 49-yard return down to the UK 39. Three plays later, Garcia and Jeffery hooked up again for a score — this time a 28-yarder as Carolina regained the lead with 13:06 left.

“I didn’t know he one-handed it until I got to the sideline and they told me to look at the replay,” said Garcia. “It’s amazing what he can do.”

USC entered the game with just 402 kickoff return yards on 19 attempts, but had 150 by the break to move into fourth place in the conference from 10th.

But that lead held for only four minutes. Following a 55-yard completion from Hartline to wide receiver Randall Cobb, the duo hooked up again for a 7-yard score as the Wildcats jumped back on top 17-14 with 9:06 left. UK went 82 yards in just eight plays.

Coming into the game, the Wildcats were 11th in the SEC in passing offense (170.5 yards per game), total offense (328.5) and scoring offense (25.0). By halftime, UK had 139 passing yards, 213 total yards and 17 points against the 14th-ranked defense in the country.

Hartline, however, was injured and left the game just 57 seconds into the second half and didn’t return. To make matters worse, it happened on a play that didn’t even count as delay of game had been whistled before Hartline left with a sprained left knee.

After trading punts, Jeffery once again proved his mettle as Garcia lofted a ball in his direction in the end zone while being tackled and the freshman from St. Matthews found the ball for a 22-yard TD catch. Spencer Lanning’s PAT made it 21-17 with 6:29 left in the third quarter for the sixth lead change of the game.

“This was a fun ball game,” said Spurrier. “It was nip and tuck. It came down to who scored touchdowns and who doesn’t. Fortunately today, we didn’t have to kick any field goals.”

UK refused to go away as Locke carried 31 yards down to the USC 29 on the first play of the ensuing drive. The drive stalled, however, and UK tried a fake field goal from the 14, but USC snuffed it out for a turnover on downs.

With Hartline out of the game, the Wildcats went to the ground and sliced and diced the Gamecock defense. UK rushed for 131 yards in the second half and 205 overall.

Carolina returned the favor three plays later as Garcia was stripped after scrambling and the Wildcats took over at the USC 15. This time Seiber connected on a 35-yard field goal to cut the lead to 21-20 with 1:24 left.

Garcia accounted for his fourth touchdown of the game with a 1-yard plunge that capped a 5-play, 61-yard drive to put USC up 28-20 with just over eight minutes left.

Cobb cut the lead to 28-26 with a three-yard run and UK went for two with 4:34 left. USC’s Cliff Matthews batted down quarterback Will Fidler’s pass on the conversion down to maintain the two-point advantage.