| Carolina unleashed true freshman quarterback Steve Taneyhill and stunned 15th ranked Mississippi State 21-6. On the second play of the game Taneyhill combined with Toby Cates for a 35-yard completion to get into MSU territory, followed by a Brandon Bennett 20-yard run. Four plays later Taneyhill found sophomore receiver Asim Penny for a ten yard touchdown pass. The defense forced a three and out and the offense went to work again. Rob DeBoer rushed for four, receiver Don Chaney picked up 15 on a reverse and then Taneyhill hit Boomer Foster for 26 yards. Brandon Bennett picked up 12 more to get to the Bulldog two, then on the next play scored. Taneyhill hit Cates for a two point conversion and it was 14-0 before MSU realized what hit them. State returned the ensuing kickoff 54 yards, but the defense held them to no yards over three plays thanks to big plays from David Turnipseed, Hank Campbell, Delvin Herring and Rocky Clay. Thanks to sacks from Lawrence Mitchell and Jahmal Pettiford there was no Bulldog scoring in the first quarter. USC drove down to the Bulldog one, but was unable to push it across in four tries. Neither team scored in the second, but State drove 75 yards on the opening possession of the second half and scored on a 15-yard pass from Greg Plump to Olanda Truitt. USC DB Rocky Clay blocked the extra point, leaving the score 14-6. The Gamecocks struck right back, as Taneyhill found Mike Reddick for a 29-yard gain, then hit Chaney for a 43-yard bomb and a 21-6 lead. The Carolina defense took over from there. MSU drove to the USC 23 to open the fourth quarter, but Frank Adams picked off a Plump pass at the USC one to end the drive. On their next possession State again got into the red zone, but Turnipseed stuffed Plump for a two yard loss on third down and a fourth down pass fell incomplete. The Bulldogs got one final chance but, their drive ended at the USC twenty-five. The win, Carolina's first of the season, sparked a resurgence on both sides of the ball. MSU's vaunted rushing attack gained only 2 yards in the first half and 96 total, while Brandon Bennett picked up 129 and Rob DeBoer had 107 for the Gamecocks.
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