SportsDirect Inc. staff
Jan 1, 2014
South Carolina 34, Wisconsin 24: Connor Shaw passed for 312 yards and three touchdowns, caught a touchdown pass and added a score on the ground in his final college game as the Gamecocks knocked off the Badgers in the Capital One Bowl at Orlando, Fla.
Shaw completed 22-of-25 passes while Bruce Ellington racked up 140 receiving yards and a pair of scores for South Carolina (11-2), which clinched a third straight 11-win season. Ellington threw a 9-yard touchdown pass to Shaw and Shaq Roland caught six passes for 112 yards for the Gamecocks.
Joel Stave went 9-for-13 for 80 yards and two scores before leaving in the third quarter with a shoulder injury, and backup Curt Phillips was intercepted twice in relief for Wisconsin (9-4). Melvin Gordon ran for 143 yards and James White added 107 on the ground for the Badgers.
South Carolina got back into the game with a series of spectacular catches by the wide receivers, including two straight 22-yard grabs by Ellington - the second for a go-ahead TD - and a 49-yard catch in double coverage by Roland that set up Shaw’s 3-yard TD pass to Jerell Adams with 11:05 left. Wisconsin responded right away when Kenzel Doe ripped off a 91-yard kickoff return TD to cut it to 27-24, but Shaw drove the Gamecocks right back down and dove for a 1-yard score to provide the winning margin.
Shaw found Ellington for a 39-yard touchdown on the first play after Stave was intercepted in the final minute of the first quarter, but Stave drove the Badgers down for the tying score on the ensuing drive. South Carolina took the lead back when Ellington got the ball on a reverse and hit Shaw in the end zone for a 9-yard score, but Wisconsin added a TD with 13 seconds left in the first half and took a 17-13 lead on a field goal early in the third.
GAME NOTEBOOK: South Carolina RB Mike Davis went down in the first half but returned for the second only to suffer an apparent leg injury on a run near the goal line with 6:40 to play. … Gordon (1,609) and White (1,444) broke the NCAA record for rushing yardage by two teammates (3,053), and are the first teammates to each go over 1,400 yards. … Gamecocks DE Jadeveon Clowney announced his intention to declare for the NFL draft after the game.