LaNorris Sellers’ Heisman candidacy may be out the window, but whatever pose he pulled off will live in lore for quite some time.
The quarterback barreled, twisted and turned through defenders to tie the game late, and the Gamecocks then turned an ensuing fumble into a walk-off field goal in their 27-24 victory over No. 11 Tennessee.
With roughly three and a half minutes to go at the South Carolina 38, the Vols went for it on 4th and 1 but were stuffed. South Carolina then moved down the field on a drive that resulted in a touchdown you have to see the believe.
On 3rd and goal from the 4, Sellers scrambled right and was at first stuffed at the 3. But he kept churning his feet and was nearly down at the 1. Yet just as he was about to be down, he laid out for the end zone and scored. The PAT tied the game at 24 with 1:17 to go.
Tennessee had a chance to make magic of their own, but instead, on just the third play of their drive, George MacIntyre lost a fumble, and the Gamecocks recovered at the Vols’ 34 with 33 seconds left.
Four plays later, Malik Orsan drilled a walk-off 48-yard field goal as time expired, and the South Carolina faithful stormed the field.
South Carolina had been 1-28 when trailing by seven or more points in the fourth quarter under Shane Beamer. It is also back-to-back wins against ranked teams for the Gamecocks after a against Florida.
Sellers was South Carolina’s leading rusher, going for 96 yards on 18 carries and scoring twice. South Carolina had gone up 14-0 in the first quarter but let Tennessee fight back.
South Carolina is now 4-3 on the season and 2-3 in SEC play. For Tennessee, it’s their second loss on the season against six wins (3-2 in conference). The loss will almost surely knock them out of potential College Football Playoff seeding â but the first CFP poll isn’t until Nov. 3.
In any case, Tennessee will have some making-up to do, and that will start in two weeks against No. 12 Kentucky back in Knoxville. South Carolina will host Oklahoma next week.
