| Score | |
|---|---|
| Team | Score |
| South Carolina | 14 |
| Mississippi State | 12 |
| GamecockArchives.com Players of the Game | |
|---|---|
| Player | Unit | Bruce Ellington | Offense | Nick Jones | Freshman | Jimmy Legree | Special Teams | D.J. Swearinger | Defense |
| Game Summary |
|---|
| 15th ranked USC got a good scare in Starkville, but in the end the Gamecocks would go on to defeat Mississippi State 14-12. The Bulldogs scored first in this one, with a touchdown pass from Tyler Russell to Chris Smith coming at the end of a 10 play, 69 yard drive. Carolina turned to the talents of wide receiver Bruce Ellington to match the score - an 80 yard drive saw Ellington catch three passes, rush once and throw a 16-yard pass to Marcus Lattimore, who finished the drive with a four yard TD run. The game was tied 7-7 at the half and there was no scoring in the third. State would finally break the tie with 9:50 left in the game on a 22-yard field goal, but USC stormed back with a 12 play, 79 yard drive. The possession ended with Connor Shaw hitting Alshon Jeffery from four yards out for a 14-10 lead. State would drive back into USC territory but on a first down at the Carolina 32 Russell got picked by Gamecock safety D.J. Swearinger to lock things up. Carolina gave back two points on the final play of the game as on fourth down from their own nine Shaw ran out of the back of the end zone to end the game. A pall hung over the victory though as Lattimore suffered a season ending knee injury while blocking on a play. Jeffery's winning touchdown catch moved him into second place all-time in receiving touchdowns. ; |
| Scoring Plays | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quarter | Game Time | Team | SC Score | Opp Score | Play |
| 1 | 01:09 | MST | 0 | 7 | Chris Smith, 19-yd pass from Tyler Russell (Derek DePasquale kick) |
| 2 | 06:21 | USC | 7 | 7 | Marcus Lattimore, 4-yd run (Jay Wooten kick) |
| 4 | 09:50 | MST | 7 | 10 | Derek DePasquale, 22-yd field goal |
| 4 | 03:50 | USC | 14 | 10 | Alshon Jeffery, 4-yd pass from Connor Shaw (Jay Wooten kick) |
| 4 | 00:00 | MST | 14 | 12 | Safety, Connor Shaw runs out of back of end zone |
| Team Stats | ||
|---|---|---|
| USC | Mississippi State | |
| First Downs | 18 | 18 |
| Rush Att | 43 | 37 |
| Rush Yds | 110 | 131 |
| Rush Avg | 2.6 | 3.5 |
| Pass Att-Com-Int | 32 - 22 - 2 | 30 - 11 - 2 |
| Comp. Pct | 68.8 | 36.7 |
| Pass Yds | 179 | 165 |
| Yds Per Att | 5.59 | 5.50 |
| Penalties | 4 . 34 | 1 . 7 |
| USC Rushing | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | Marcus Lattimore | 17 | 39 | 2.3 | 1 | Connor Shaw | 16 | 28 | 1.8 | 0 | Bruce Ellington | 4 | 25 | 6.3 | 0 | Damiere Byrd | 1 | 10 | 10.0 | 0 | Brandon Wilds | 5 | 8 | 1.6 | 0 |
| Mississippi State Rushing | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Att | Yds | Avg | TD |
| USC Passing | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Att | Com | Yds | YPA | TD | Int | Connor Shaw | 28 | 20 | 155 | 5.5 | 1 | 2 | Bruce Ellington | 3 | 2 | 24 | 8.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mississippi State Passing | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Att | Com | Yds | YPA | TD | Int |
| USC Receiving | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Rec | Trgt | Com% | Yds | BP | Avg | 34DTrgt | 34DConv | TD | Alshon Jeffery | 5 | 9 | 55.6 | 24 | 0 | 4.8 | 3 | 1 | 1 | Nick Jones | 4 | 4 | 100.0 | 45 | 1 | 11.3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | Bruce Ellington | 4 | 4 | 100.0 | 32 | 1 | 8.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Marcus Lattimore | 3 | 3 | 100.0 | 29 | 1 | 9.7 | 2 | 1 | 0 | Ace Sanders | 2 | 4 | 50.0 | 25 | 1 | 12.5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | D.L. Moore | 2 | 2 | 100.0 | 14 | 0 | 7.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Justice Cunningham | 2 | 2 | 100.0 | 10 | 0 | 5.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Mississippi State Receiving | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Rec | Yds | Int |
| Kickoff Returns | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Player | KR | Yds | TD | Bruce Ellington | 1 | 17 | 0 | D.J. Swearinger | 1 | 16 | 0 |
| Punt Returns | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Player | PR | Yds | TD | Ace Sanders | 1 | 11 | 0 |
| Punting | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Punts | Yds | Avg | Net Yds | Net Avg | In20 | TB | Long | Joey Scribner-Howard | 6 | 230 | 38.3 | 0 | 1 | 60 |
| Game Defense | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | TKL | TFL | SK | FF | FR | PBU | QBH | IPL | CDPL | RZPL | SPP |
| Game Interceptions | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Int | Yds | TD | Reginald Bowens | 1 | 19 | 0 | D.J. Swearinger | 1 | 16 | 0 |
| Game Participation (Starters in All Caps) | |
|---|---|
| Player | Pos |
| ANTONIO ALLEN | SPUR |
| Rory (Busta) Anderson | |
| Reginald Bowens | |
| Damiere Byrd | |
| Billy Byrne | |
| TERRENCE CAMPBELL | RG |
| A.J. CANN | LG |
| Jadeveon Clowney | |
| Matt Coffee | |
| JUSTICE CUNNINGHAM | TE |
| Bruce Ellington | |
| ALDRICK FORDHAM | DT2 |
| CODY GIBSON | RT |
| STEPHON GILMORE | CB1 |
| Sharrod Golightly | |
| Victor Hampton | |
| DEVONTE HOLLOMAN | SS |
| Walker Inabinet | |
| MELVIN INGRAM | DE2 |
| ALSHON JEFFERY | WR1 |
| Damario Jeffery | |
| Byron Jerideau | |
| T.J. JOHNSON | C |
| NICK JONES | WR3 |
| MARCUS LATTIMORE | TB |
| Jimmy Legree | |
| Blair Lowery | |
| Marty Markett | |
| Connor McLaurin | |
| D.L. Moore | |
| Ronald Patrick | |
| RODNEY PAULK | MLB |
| Kelcy Quarles | |
| TRAVIAN ROBERTSON | DT1 |
| Kenny Robinson | |
| ACE SANDERS | WR2 |
| Joey Scribner-Howard | |
| CONNOR SHAW | QB |
| DeAngelo Smith | |
| QUIN SMITH | WLB |
| Seth Strickland | |
| Chaz Sutton | |
| D.J. SWEARINGER | FS |
| DEVIN TAYLOR | DE1 |
| ROKEVIOUS WATKINS | LT |
| C.C. WHITLOCK | CB2 |
| Brandon Wilds | |
| Dalton Wilson | |
| Shaq Wilson | |
| Jay Wooten |