Gamecock Nation has grown accustomed to holding its breath this season.

No lead is safe, not with a defense ranked among the SEC’s worst and a group lacking confidence thanks to several squandered chances in the waning moments.

That same, nauseating feeling begin to fester again in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s Independence Bowl against Miami, a game that appeared to be in hand for the Gamecocks who jumped ahead by 10 points lead with just over four minutes to play.

The Hurricanes responded with a 7-play, 72-yard march that cut the deficit to three in 1:57, capped off on Phillip Dorsett’s 11-yard touchdown reception on a blown coverage in the back corner of the end zone.

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Shaping up to be another late-game meltdown during a season of disappointment, South Carolina managed the single first down it needed and bled the final minute, holding off the Hurricanes, 24-21.

“We’re going home a winner at 7-6,” Steve Spurrier said on the field after the game. “We’ve won four straight bowl games wearing this garnet on garnet, something’s going right.”

The Gamecocks delivered the decisive blow after recovering Duke Johnson’s fumble at his own 29 with 5:24 remaining. Johnson, one of college football’s best backs, left the game after rolling his ankle on the play, but the ball squirted out and was picked up by Gerald Dixon before he was ruled down by contact.

After a 2-yard gain from Mike Davis, Dylan Thompson found Pharoh Cooper, South Carolina’s best player this season, on an acrobatic 25-yard reception down to the Miami 2. On the ensuing play, Thompson’s first zone-read keeper of the game was the clincher in the Gamecocks’ fourth consecutive bowl victory and their eighth all time.

Thompson finished with three total touchdowns in his final game at South Carolina, including two impressive scoring tosses in the first half after helping the Gamecocks built a 17-6 lead at intermission.

Cooper managed a game-high nine catches for 170 yards and a score, reaching the end zone on a nifty 78-yard reception in the second quarter.