LaNorris Sellers shrugged off an ankle injury to pass for 251 yards and a touchdown and ran 41 yards for an insurance score with 1:19 left as No. 21 South Carolina outlasted mistake-prone Texas A&M 17-9 on Saturday in a Southeastern Conference clash in Columbia, South Carolina.
The Gamecocks (6-3, 4-3 SEC) took the lead for good on Malik Orsan’s 43-yard field goal with 8:14 to play.
Texas A&M (4-5, 1-5) had two possessions to flip the game after Orsan’s kick. The first ended with a punt after back-to-back dropped passes near midfield by Isaiah Horton; the second finished with Aggies quarterback Marcel Reed sacked on fourth down and seven with 1:27 to play.
After the second, Sellers roared through a huge hole on the right side and limped his way to the end zone. Texas A&M still trailed by just one possession and moved to the Gamecocks’ 10-yard line with nine seconds left before Reed uncorked two incompletions.
Sellers had been forced from the game late in the second quarter with a left ankle injury on a sack on which he fumbled. He was helped to the locker room but returned and played the second half while noticeably favoring the injury.
Reed went 25-of-43 for 251 yards passing. Rueben Owens II amassed 137 yards on 19 carries to lead the Aggies’ tepid offensive attack.
After outgaining the Gamecocks 120-18 in the first quarter but having no points to show for it, Texas A&M opened the scoring with a 40-yard field goal by David Olano two snaps into the second quarter. Earlier in the game, Olano was stopped short of the line to gain on a fake field goal from the USC 30-yard line.
South Carolina responded with an eight-play, 75-yard march that found paydirt when Sellers passed to Mazeo Bennett Jr. for a one-yard touchdown and a 7-3 lead with 11:54 to play in the second.
The Aggies clawed back to within a point when Olano booted a 46-yard FG as time expired in the first half. A&M went back in front on the opening possession of the third quarter on Olano’s 44-yard field goal.
Then both teams missed field-goal chances, with Olano just wide right on a 30-yard kick with 6:39 to play in the quarter and Orsan clanging a 49-yard attempt off the right upright with 58 seconds left in the third.