SportsDirect Inc. staff
Nov 16, 2013
No. 12 South Carolina 19, Florida 14: Elliott Fry hit four field goals, including two in the fourth quarter, and the Gamecocks held on to secure a victory over the visiting Gators and keep their hopes of an SEC East division title alive.
Shon Carson had a career-high 102 rushing yards in relief of the SEC’s leading rusher, Mike Davis, who was slowed with a foot injury early in the third quarter. With the victory, South Carolina (8-2, 6-2) clinches a berth in the SEC title game with a Missouri loss in either of the Tigers’ final two games.
Kelvin Taylor had a career day of his own, setting new personal highs in rushing yards (96) and touchdowns (two) for Florida (4-6, 3-5). Gators coaches kept things simple for redshirt freshman quarterback Skyler Mornhinweg, who was 10-for-13 passing for 107 yards and an interception.
The Gators took a 14-6 lead to halftime on touchdown runs of 20 and 29 yards by Taylor, both of which came out of the Wildcat formation. The Gators ran the ball 22 times and threw just twice in the opening half.
South Carolina quarterback Connor Shaw rebounded in the third quarter after missing a couple easy touchdown throws in the first half, finding Bruce Ellington for a 32-yard score on fourth-and-3, and finishing with 213 yards on 14-for-28 through the air. A 58-yard Carson run helped set up the 22-yard go-ahead field goal for Fry with 6:43 to play, and Fry added another boot from 43 yards out with 2:16 remaining.
GAME NOTEBOOK: South Carolina defensive end Jadeveon Clowney briefly came out of the game during the first half after appearing to hurt his right foot. … South Carolina defeated the Gators for the third time in four years for the first time in series history. … Florida lost a fifth straight game for the first time since 1979.