Bruce Ellington's TD catch helped the Gamecocks rally come to fruition. (Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports)
COLUMBIA, Mo. — Fifth-ranked Missouri’s undefeated start to the season ended on a 24-yard missed field goal attempt by Andrew Baggett in double overtime that gave South Carolina a 27-24 victory on Saturday night.
The 22nd-ranked Gamecocks (6-2, 3-2 SEC) staked Missouri 17 points by the time 6:45 remained in the third quarter.
That’s when senior quarterback Connor Shaw entered the game.
Shaw, cleared to play after a knee sprain suffered against Tennessee, spent most of the game on the sideline as backup Dylan Thompson sputtered and stalled through the first two-and-a-half quarters.
After telling himself, “We are not going to win a game in one series,” Shaw led scoring drives on his final three drives of the fourth quarter and the Gamecocks scored 17 straight points. South Carolina tied the score on a 2-yard touchdown pass from Shaw to Nick Jones with 42 seconds in regulation.
After one failed play, the Tigers (7-1, 3-1) opted for overtime. Again, Shaw’s magic saved the day for South Carolina.
Missouri scored first on a 1-yard run by Marcus Murphy, his second touchdown run of the night. On South Carolina’s ensuing drive, Shaw threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Bruce Ellington on fourth down to extend the game to double overtime.
Ellington finished with 10 catches for 136 yards and two touchdowns.
After the Gamecocks settled for a 40-yard field goal by Elliott Fry, Missouri’s drive stalled and Baggett’s 24-yard attempt hit the top of the left upright, bouncing off to seal the game for South Carolina. The miss was Baggett’s second of the night as he failed to convert a 46-yard attempt with 9:32 remaining in the fourth quarter with Missouri leading 17-7.
Against Florida a week ago, Baggett went 5-for-5.
“It didn’t come down to one play or one kick or one catch or what have you,” Missouri coach Gary Pinkel said. “Everybody could have made something different, something throughout the entire game.”
Shaw finished 20 of 29 for 201 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions after entering the game in the third quarter. The Gamecocks threw for 423 yards total.
“I wasn’t even supposed to be playing in this game,” Shaw said. “They said I was supposed to be out 2-3 weeks.”
“I tell you what, our guys today came together and we all played for each other and we never gave up,” South Carolina running back Mike Davis said.
Davis fumbled twice in the first half and the Tigers turned his second turnover into a two-touchdown lead at halftime.
Missouri defensive tackle Matt Hoch forced Davis’ second fumble of the half at the Tigers’ 2-yard line with 5:02 remaining before halftime, and defensive end Kony Ealy recovered the ball for Missouri. On third-and-8, quarterback Maty Mauk threw a 96-yard touchdown pass to L’Damian Washington to extend Missouri’s lead to 14-0.
Missouri held Davis to 29 yards on 13 first-half carries.
It was a half of miscues for the Gamecocks. In addition to Davis’ two turnovers, Thompson threw an interception and Fry missed a 40-yard field goal attempt.
The Tigers first took the lead with an 11-yard touchdown run by Murphy late in the first quarter, ending a nine-play, 77-yard drive after Fry’s miss.
Mauk’s confidence got the best of him on Missouri’s first drive against South Carolina. His first pass, a slant to tight end Eric Waters, went wide and nearly ended up in the arms of a South Carolina defender. His next pass of the game wasn’t so lucky as it bounced off Washington’s shoulder pads and Gamecocks linebacker Kaiwan Lewis made a diving interception.
Mauk rebounded, although his first-half numbers were similar to his debut against Florida a week ago. The redshirt freshman completed 6-of-13 first-half passes for 175 yards in addition to the one touchdown and one interception.
However, Mauk and Missouri’s passing game failed to move the ball in the second half. Mauk’s last pass completed for positive yards came with 12:08 remaining in regulation. He finished 10-25 for 249 yards.
“Obviously, it’s real frustrating when you’re driving on them but you can’t, you know, finish,” Mauk said.
With the loss, Missouri remains atop the SEC East standings. South Carolina, with two conference losses, will hold the tiebreaker should it win its final three conference games and Missouri lose another game.
NOTES: South Carolina finished with the most passing yards (456), completions (35) and attempts (56) in Steve Spurrier’s tenure as the Gamecocks’ coach … Missouri’s first fumble recovery of the game extended the defense’s streak of turnovers to 38 consecutive games … Missouri was the highest-ranked team South Carolina has beat on the road since Oct. 24, 1981.
