Too little, too late for Gamecocks as Carolina loses third straight bowl game on New Year’s Eve to FSU
ATLANTA — It looked to be like just another South Carolina bowl game.
It turned out to be anything but.
Despite turning the ball over on four of its first six possessions and giving Florida State a 13-0 lead in the process, South Carolina put together an improbable rally before falling just short in a 26-17 loss to the Seminoles in the 2010 Chick-fil-A Bowl at the Georgia Dome.
“It’s unfortunate we didn’t give ourselves much of a chance to win the game,” coach Steve Spurrier said. “But give Florida State credit. They played very well.”
Trailing by 13 in the third quarter, South Carolina pulled to within two in the fourth quarter after wide receiver Ace Sanders found quarterback Stephen Garcia for a 3-yard touchdown pass and Brian Maddox added a 7-yard touchdown run.
That’s when the Gamecocks’ hopes came crashing down.
Florida State converted on third down four times on the ensuing drive before quarterback E.J. Manuel found Taiwan Easterling in the back of the end zone for a 7-yard touchdown pass.
The critical score pushed the deficit for No. 20 South Carolina (9-5) to nine with just over five minutes remaining, all but ending the comeback.
“I think we were tired, no question about that. But still, we don’t understand the situation,” said Ellis Johnson, USC’s associate head coach for defense. “Florida State wasn’t trying to throw the bomb. We had some calls where the kids just didn’t get in there tight enough to keep them from getting the first down.”
Florida State threw for just 90 yards in the win, but 50 came on the decisive touchdown drive.
“We’re not a real alert bunch of guys,” Spurrier said. “We had a lot of careless penalties. That’s how you get beat, and that’s what happened to us tonight.”
The Gamecocks might not have needed such a crucial stop on that drive had their offense performed at a higher level during the first half. It started on the opening drive, as freshman phenom Marcus Lattimore was knocked out of the game after suffering a monster hit from FSU cornerback Greg Reid deep in Seminole territory.
“That was an unfortunate play,” Spurrier said. “They were sort of playing man-to-man, a guy came off one of our receivers and broke on the ball. We hit him a little wider than we hoped to.”
The worst part for Lattimore and the Gamecocks? It was the running back’s first career fumble.
Florida State (10-4) promptly capitalized on the turnover with the first of four field goals from Dustin Hopkins.
“We held them to a bunch of field goals early,” Spurrier said. “If we made them kick a bunch of field goals, we might have had a chance.”
But USC’s inept offense wasn’t done. Garcia threw interceptions on three of the next four drives as No. 23 Florida State pushed the advantage to 13-3 at the break.
“It’s tough to turn the ball over and beat a team like that, trying to play catch-up the whole game,” Garcia said.
It proved to be too little, too late from there, as South Carolina dropped its third consecutive bowl game under Spurrier while falling to 4-12 all-time in the postseason.
“Playing the last two games of the season, to come out and perform like that is just bad,” Garcia said. “It leaves a bad taste in your mouth.”
The Gamecocks were blown out by Iowa in the 2009 Outback Bowl before losing to Connecticut in the 2010 PapaJohns.com Bowl. Over their last three postseason appearances, the Gamecocks have now been outscored 77-38.
“It’s not a mystery. Something happens to us. We lose our focus, I guess,” Spurrier said. “We got our butts kicked by UConn. Florida State outsmarted us and outplayed us completely in special teams.”
South Carolina will kick off the 2011 season in Charlotte, N.C., against East Carolina on Sept. 3.
“We’ll try to get better next year,” Spurrier said. “But we’re a long way off from being a good team.”