South Carolina ran 67 plays against No. 14 Oklahoma on Saturday.
A fifth of them were stopped in the backfield for a loss.
Backup quarterback Cutter Woods replaced LaNorris Sellers in the fourth quarter once the game was in hand. He produced 59 yards himself. But through the first 3 quarters, as Oklahoma built a 24-7 lead, South Carolina averaged just 3.2 yards per play.
The season-long offensive struggles for the Gamecocks continued on Saturday against an Oklahoma defense that bounced back from last week’s disappointing loss in Dallas. OU handled South Carolina for a 26-7 victory that moved the Sooners to 6-1 on the season.
Sellers ended his day 17-for-25 passing for 124 yards and a touchdown. He had 14 rushing attempts that lost 9 yards. Sellers was sacked 6 times. The only points scored in the fourth quarter came on a South Carolina safety — 1 of 13 tackles for loss by the OU defense in the game.
Following a 2-yard pass to Nyck Harbor with less than 2 minutes remaining in the first half, South Carolina found itself within a single possession of the Sooners. But negative plays were simply too much to overcome.
South Carolina advanced all the way to the 3-yard line on its opening drive of the game. A third-and-goal run from Rahsul Faison was stuffed in the backfield for a 2-yard loss and the ensuing fourth-down attempt from USC came up short.
The Gamecocks had a 14-play drive in the fourth quarter that lasted more than 5 minutes, gained 27 yards, and ended on downs on their side of the 50.
Woods was picked off in the fourth quarter. Mason Love was intercepted in the third quarter.
Among South Carolina’s 13 possessions, 6 ended without gaining a single first down.
OU managed only 3 touchdown drives of its own during the game, but that was more than enough. Quarterback John Mateer, in his second game back from injury, threw for 150 yards and a score.
For the Sooners, the emergence of a ground game was a welcome sight. Tory Blaylock ran for 101 yards and a score on 19 carries. Xavier Robinson ran for 58 and a touchdown on 11 carries. Adjusted for sacks, OU averaged 4.7 yards per run.
OU hosts Ole Miss next weekend.
South Carolina, which has lost 4 of its last 5 games to drop to 3-4 on the year, hosts Alabama before a 2-game road swing through Ole Miss and Texas A&M.
Oklahoma 26, South Carolina 7
Here’s the Oklahoma-South Carolina box score (use the dropdown menu to select team or player stats), followed by the complete play-by-play:
John Mateer vs LaNorris Sellers
A statistical breakdown of how Oklahoma QB John Mateer performed against South Carolina counterpart LaNorris Sellers:
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.
