NCAAF

South Carolina Gamecocks at Alabama Crimson Tide

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25 - 27
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No. 7 Alabama overcomes botched recovery of an onside kick to beat South Carolina 27-25

Alabama survives South Carolina after chaotic finish

This time the Crimson Tide survived, if only barely.

No. 7 Alabama (5-1, 2-1) botched the recovery of an onside kick to give South Carolina one last chance, but Domani Jackson intercepted LaNorris Sellers as time expired and the Tide escaped with a 27-25 win.

It was Alabama's third straight game that went down to the very end, having beaten then-No. 2 Georgia 41-34 a week before losing 40-35 to Vanderbilt.

“Another game down to the wire,” Tide coach Kalen DeBoer said. “We’re kind of getting accustomed to those. There’s some things that we can do to make sure it doesn’t get to that point. But we always talk about finding a way to win. As many times as it looked like we weren’t, we did.”

With 43 seconds remaining, Sellers hit Nyck Harbor for a 31-yard touchdown, but the Gamecocks (3-2, 1-3) failed to convert on their two-point attempt. They recovered the ensuing onside kick, but Sellers' desperation heave toward the end zone with 13 seconds remaining was intercepted at the goal line by Jackson.

“We expected to win this game," South Carolina coach Shane Beamer said. “Nobody was coming in here at halftime doing cartwheels because we were in a tight game with Alabama. We expected that, because we have a good football team. Life in this conference is really hard.”

Jalen Milroe rushed for a 7-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter and then hit Germie Bernard for a late 34-yard score to help Alabama survive the scare. It wasn't quite the emphatic rebound win they were hoping to produce.

“It’s not the ‘W’ that we wanted,” Alabama defensive lineman Tim Smith said. “It should have been a lot more dominant and physical, but a ‘W’ is a ‘W,’ man.”

Milroe delivered when he had to in a game where he was intercepted twice and flagged for intentional grounding on a sack in the end zone for a safety. Facing third-and-10, he found Bernard downfield without a defender anywhere in the vicinity with 1:54 left to cap a 10-play drive.

“There was a lot of safe avenues and things that we discussed on that play and I think that they were aggressive in trying to play a lot of those,” DeBoer said. “There was a deeper route and I love that Jalen saw it.”

Milroe was 16-of-23 passing for 209 yards with a touchdown and two rushing scores. Sellers was 23 of 31 for 238 yards with two TDs and the final pick.

The Gamecocks entered the fourth quarter with a lead and had a chance to retake it. But Alex Herrera's 51-yard field goal attempt, which would have been a career long, was short.

Milroe had taken advantage of a Sellers fumble with his 7-yard touchdown run with 10:42 left but the two-point pass failed, leaving it 20-19.

He was relegated to cheerleader at the end with the defense on the field, just like against Vandy and Georgia.

“When we talk about team, that’s a great example of just finding a way as a group to just cheer on whoever’s on the field and everyone just buying in,” Milroe said.

Alabama's 14-0 lead was whittled down to two over the final 1:37 before halftime amid a series of South Carolina's big plays and Tide snafus. It included the safety, turnovers from each team and Sellers’ fourth-and-9 pass to a wide-open Mazeo Bennett Jr. for a 36-yard score.

“There was some crazy stuff but our guys just kept hanging in there,” Beamer said.

The takeaway South Carolina: The Gamecocks largely turned things around after a 27-3 home loss to No. 9 Mississippi, with Sellers outplaying Milroe for much of the way.

Alabama: That dominant first half and win over Georgia seems like a different season now. But like that game, the Tide managed to hold on.

Poll implications Alabama could fall in the rankings despite the win.

Up next South Carolina: At No. 18 Oklahoma on Saturday, Oct. 19.

Alabama: At No. 8 Tennessee on Saturday, Oct. 19.

How To Watch

How can I watch South Carolina Gamecocks vs. Alabama Crimson Tide?
  • TV Channel: Gamecocks at Crimson Tide 2021 College Football, week 7, is broadcasted on ABC.
  • Online streaming: Sign up for Fubo.

Matchup Prediction

Crimson Tide: 91.0%
Gamecocks: 9.0%
*According to ESPN's Basketball Power Index

Scoring Summary

ALA TD 1st Period 11:00 Jalen Milroe 1 Yd Run (Graham Nicholson Kick)
ALA TD 2nd Period 4:38 Justice Haynes 2 Yd Run (Graham Nicholson Kick)
SC TD 2nd Period 1:37 Mazeo Bennett Jr. 36 Yd pass from LaNorris Sellers (Alex Herrera Kick)
SC SF 2nd Period 1:28 Team Safety
SC FG 2nd Period 0:00 Alex Herrera 37 Yd Field Goal
SC TD 3rd Period 6:20 Raheim Sanders 1 Yd Run (Alex Herrera Kick)
ALA TD 4th Period 10:42 Jalen Milroe 7 Yd Run (Two-Point Pass Conversion Failed)
ALA TD 4th Period 1:54 Germie Bernard 34 Yd pass from Jalen Milroe (Graham Nicholson Kick)
SC TD 4th Period 0:43 Nyck Harbor 31 Yd pass from LaNorris Sellers (Two-Point Pass Conversion Failed)

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/ncaa/500/2579.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originSC https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/ncaa/500/333.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originALA
23 1st Downs 20
7-15 3rd down efficiency 5-11
1-2 4th down efficiency 1-1
374 Total Yards 313
242 Passing 209
24/32 Comp/Att 16/23
7.6 Yards per pass 9.1
132 Rushing 104
39 Rushing Attempts 38
3.4 Yards per rush 2.7
6-49 Penalties 7-67
4 Turnovers 2
3 Fumbles lost 0
1 Interceptions thrown 2
31:43 Possession 28:17

Game Information

Bryant-Denny Stadium

Location: Tuscaloosa, AL
Attendance: 100,077 · Capacity:
Full Standings

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