Gamecocks ride twists and turns of wild game to claim victory over Troy

David Spaulding could barely muster the strength to reach out his right mitt and high-five the hands that greeted him in the north end zone at Williams-Brice Stadium. A field-length sprint will do that.

The frenzied undergrads in the front four rows of South Carolina’s student section mauled the hedges that separate partiers from players. Defensive back Darius Rush smacked the right side of Spaulding’s helmet and hugged his shoulder pads.

Spaulding’s 74-yard pick-six to close Saturday’s first half pushed South Carolina (3-2, 0-2 SEC) to a 23-14 win over Troy (2-3, 0-1 Sun Belt) in a game with more surprises and shocks than when the Greeks leapt out of their wooden horse and laid siege to the Trojans’ mythical city 4,000 years ago.

Saturday wasn’t always pretty. Then again, none of South Carolina’s five games to date have been. The Gamecocks slogged to just 35 yards on 14 carries through the opening 30 minutes and 102 rushing yards total on 27 touches.

While the running game struggled most of the game, quarterback Luke Doty did his best gunslinger impression as he completed 14 of 24 passes for 202 yards and a touchdown in the first half alone.

Flashing the poise and precision we’ve seen in weeks past, Doty finished the afternoon with 255 yards — the most by any South Carolina quarterback in a game this year. He also surpassed his previous career single-game marks in attempts, completions and yards.

In a season that’s seen enough wackiness and weirdness to make absurdist filmmakers scoff, Saturday’s contest offered onlookers in Columbia new levels of craziness to digest.

Spaulding afforded the opening absurdity when he stifled Troy’s late first half drive and returned Taylor Powell’s pass 74 yards for a score.

Safety Jahmar Brown backed up Spaulding’s initial effort when he blocked a Troy player into punter Luke Magliozzi, who then punted the ball into the back of his teammate, watched it spin over his head and roll out of bounds.

Six minutes later, safety Jaylan Foster slammed into Powell deep in South Carolina territory to jar the ball loose. Linebacker Damani Staley then scooped up the sputtering football off the turf and took off running.

Nearing midfield, Staley stumbled, fumbled and watched Brown pick up the ball and race into the open field. Brown dashed toward the goal line with what felt like death knell score in Troy’s upset bid, only to drop the ball short of the goal line and watch it roll into the end zone for a touchback upon review.

For all the wildness of Saturday’s contest, it was ever-steady kicker Parker White who put the finishing touches on South Carolina’s third win of the year when he cashed home a 37-yard field goal with 2:20 remaining to push the Gamecocks to an uneasy third win of the fall.

Call it voodoo. Call it chaos. Call it nuts.

Technically, Saturday was a football game. In practice, it was a master class in crazy.

Whether it was pretty or not, though, South Carolina survived. Shane Beamer’s squad is 3-2 and an outside shot at bowl eligibility remains — even if the ruins of Saturday afternoon’s affair remain ablaze deep into the evening in Columbia.

First down

South Carolina moved its all-time record against Sun Belt competition to 17-2. The Gamecocks are now 4-0 against Troy, 8-2 against Appalachian State, 2-0 against both Coastal Carolina and Louisiana-Lafayette (2003, ‘07) and 1-0 vs. South Alabama (2014).

Offsides

South Carolina continued to get in its own way during Saturday’s first half. The Gamecocks were tagged for six penalties and 57 yards in the opening 30 minutes of the contest.

USC headed into the win over Troy averaging 7.3 penalties and 57 penalty yards per game.

Touchdown

Gamecocks special teams coordinator Pete Lembo’s unit gave South Carolina the back-breaking plays it needed down the stretch on Saturday. Safety Jahmar Brown pushed a blocker into Troy punter Luke Magliozzi to block the kick.

Parker White also added to his increasingly impressive season when he drilled a 48-yard third quarter field goal to push South Carolina’s lead to six points. White iced the game with a 37-yard fourth quarter kick.

Next South Carolina Football Game

Who: South Carolina vs. Tennessee

When: Noon on Saturday, Oct. 9

Where: Neyland Stadium — Knoxville, Tennessee

TV: ESPN2

South Carolina vs Troy scoring, stats

First Quarter

USC—FG P.White 23, 8:52.

Second Quarter

TROY—B.Smith 35 run (Buce kick), 14:52.

USC—Jenkins 16 pass from Doty (P.White kick), 4:12.

USC—Spaulding 74 interception return (P.White kick), :28.

Third Quarter

TROY—Woods 1 run (Buce kick), 11:27.

USC—FG P.White 47, 4:45.

Fourth Quarter

USC—FG P.White 36, :28.

——Team stats——

▪ First downs: 19-19

▪ Total yards: USC 352-274

▪ Third-down conversions: USC 4-13, Troy 7-14

▪ Time of possession: Troy 42:06 to 25:18

——Individual stats——

RUSHING—Troy, Smith 18-103, Woods 9-49, Todd 1-11, Powell 2-(minus 25). South Carolina, Vann 2-52, Harris 11-47, McDowell 6-16, Lloyd 3-3, (Team) 1-(minus 1), Doty 6-(minus 20).

PASSING—Troy, Powell 19-35-2-136. South Carolina, Doty 20-34-0-255.

RECEIVING—Troy, T.Johnson 5-47, Todd 4-33, Smith 4-13, A.Lewis 1-22, Barber 1-16, Stoudemire 1-4, Whittemore 1-4, D.Lewis 1-2, Billingsley 1-(minus 5). South Carolina, Vann 3-45, Brooks 3-20, McDowell 3-16, Harris 2-49, Bell 2-41, Jenkins 2-28, Muse 2-27, A.Brown 2-5, Joyner 1-24.

MISSED FIELD GOALS—None.

This story was originally published October 2, 2021 at 6:54 PM with the headline "Gamecocks ride twists and turns of wild game to claim victory over Troy."

Ben Portnoy

The State

Ben Portnoy is The State’s South Carolina Gamecocks football beat writer. He’s a 10-time Associated Press Sports Editors award honoree and has earned recognition from the Mississippi Press Association and the National Sports Media Association. Portnoy previously covered Mississippi State for the Columbus Commercial Dispatch and Indiana football for the Journal Gazette in Ft. Wayne, IN.