The No. 21 South Carolina football team put together an explosive offensive performance Saturday night to defeat the No. 23 Missouri Tigers 34-30 at Williams-Brice Stadium.
The Gamecocks' offense totaled eight passing plays of 15 yards or more, along with three rushing plays of 10 yards or more against the Tigers.
"What a win for our guys," head coach Shane Beamer said following the win. "The resiliency that we showed, the togetherness, the never-panic. Just so many moments and plays from that game."
The Gamecocks came from behind multiple times in the fourth quarter to end its conference slate of games with a strong performance.
"First off all, credit to Missouri," Beamer said. "This was a top-25 matchup against a team in Missouri that's won 18 of their last 22 games. We knew they would come in here, and that it would be a war. They're a physical football team with a bunch of really good players, and that's what you saw out there tonight."
The Gamecocks' offense started fast when redshirt freshman quarterback LaNorris Sellers found sixth-year tight end Joshua Simon for a 30-yard completion on the team's first offensive play of the game. That possession also ended with a big play when Sellers connected with sophomore wide receiver Nyck Harbor for a 26-yard touchdown.
"The ball's in the air, it's coming to me, it's mine ... no matter what," Harbor said. "Missouri, they blitzed the corner, safety was playing a little low and didn't get over."
With around two minutes to go in the first half, Sellers connected with Harbor again, this time for a 43-yard completion that set up South Carolina's offense inside the Missouri 10-yard line. One play later, Sellers threw a six-yard touchdown pass to Simon, his sixth score of the season.
"(I felt) wide open," Simon said. "We kind of knew we were going to have that look. They went for it, and (we got) 6 points."
After a quick stop by the Gamecocks' defense, Sellers found Simon for a 29-yard completion, putting the ball close to midfield. Four plays later, redshirt junior wide receiver Jared Brown took a screen pass from Sellers to the end zone for a 38-yard touchdown. South Carolina took a 21-6 lead into the locker room at halftime.
To open the third quarter, senior running back Raheim "Rocket" Sanders rushed for a 14-yard gain. Sanders mostly had a quiet day on the ground, totaling 19 carries for 53 yards, good for 2.8 yards per rush.
Trailing 22-21 midway through the fourth quarter, the Gamecocks faced a big drive as the team attempted to regain control of the game. On third down, Sellers shook off a Missouri defender to find redshirt junior tight end Brady Hunt for an 11-yard gain. On the next play, Sellers completed a pass to sixth-year wide receiver Dalevon Campbell for 47 yards.
"I don't like him getting hit in the backfield and defenders bouncing off of him," Beamer said. "Very similar to the play at Vanderbilt last week where we hit J.B. (Brown), where he came out of there, scrambled left, kept his eyes downfield and was able to make a play."
After Missouri scored a touchdown to take a 30-27 lead, the Gamecocks answered with more big plays from the offense. Sellers found Campbell again for a 39-yard catch, putting South Carolina's offense at the Tigers' 21-yard line. In the red zone, Sellers tossed a screen pass to Sanders, who bounced off several defenders to score the game-winning touchdown.
"I wanted to score, obviously," Sellers said. "So we went down there, we felt good about it. We came to a shovel pass earlier in the game too, but they overplayed it the first time we ran it ... So we just came back to it, gave it to Rocket and scored."
Before Saturday, Campbell had just 46 receiving yards on the season and hadn't caught a pass since South Carolina's game against Oklahoma on Oct. 19. Campbell, who transferred from Nevada before the season began, led the team with two catches for 86 yards.
Sellers finished the game on 21 for 30 passing for 353 yards and five touchdowns, both of which were career-highs. He also rushed 14 times for 45 yards.
"I didn't realize (he had) the five touchdown passes," Beamer said. "It says everything about him ... He works his butt off, he's very grounded, he's very poised, he's a competitor, his teammates love him, his coaches love him and he's just a really, really good quarterback."
The explosive plays helped the Gamecocks overcome its struggles on third down and fourth down. South Carolina went 4-10 on third down and just two-for-five on fourth down.
Despite this, the Gamecocks ultimately emerged as victors, marking the team's third straight win over an opponent ranked in the Associated Press' top-25 rankings.
"We're on the right track," Beamer said. "You talk about the young players that we have in this program right now. The quarterback, (freshman edge rusher) Dylan (Stewart), (you can) go on and on and on. We talk about the recruits that were here tonight, the ones that are committed to us (and) the ones that we're recruiting."
South Carolina (7-3, 5-3 SEC) will play its final home game of the season on Nov. 23 against the Wofford Terriers (5-6, 3-5 SoCon). Kickoff is slated for 4 p.m., and the game will be streamed on SEC Network+ and ESPN+.