Gamecock Cakewalk
South Carolina offense too much for Florida Atlantic as Owls fall to Gamecocks 38-16
Originally published on
9/19/2009
by
Marcus Nelson
> After review: We hand out grades and gameballs
> Video:Schnellenberger's post-game opening statement
> Video: Rusty Smith discusses game-changing INT
> Video:Tavious Polo and FAU's kryptonite
> Video:Dino Cox breaks down the second half against USC
> Notebook: Smith guides FAU to first touchdown
> Photo Gallery: Gameday pictures
> Box score: South Carolina 38, FAU 16
COLUMBIA, S.C. – Florida Atlantic appeared ready to make the nation do a double-take, put ESPN viewers on Upset Alert and have the South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier squirming on the sideline midway through their game against the Gamecocks on Saturday.
And then in a matter of just a few plays - right before and right after halftime – it was over as South Carolina cruised to a 38-16 victory.
After falling behind by two touchdowns early, FAU nearly came all the way back late in the second quarter, pulling to within 17-16 on a 3-yard touchdown pass from Rusty Smith to Jamari Grant with 16 seconds remaining in the half.
But when Ross Gornall missed the ensuing PAT, the Owls missed the chance to tie the game.
After the halftime break, no one was thinking about Gornall’s missed kick as Smith threw an interception on the first play of the third quarter.
“We came out in the second half and I threw a pick,” said Smith, who was 21-of-31 for 198 yards. “That shoots the momentum and puts you confidence level in the tank.”
FAU coach Howard Schnellenberger said he warned the team at halftime about a Gamecocks surge early in the second half.
“I warned them about what's been our history in that scenario,” Schnellenberger said. “I should have kept my mouth shut. They couldn’t have done any worse.”
The Owls (0-2) also couldn’t have hardly done any worse than the way they started the game on defense.
USC's wide receiver Moe Brown had a 50-yard end around on the first play from scrimmage and the Gamecocks took a 7-0 lead just 1:21 into the game on a 3-yard touchdown run by running back Brain Maddox.
South Carolina extended the lead on a Spencer Lanning field goal of 41 yards with 6:16 remaining in the first quarter to give USC a 10-0 lead.
FAU got on the board with 37 yard field goal by Gornall to cut the margin to 10-3 with 55 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
South Carolina quarterback Stephen Garcia made it 17-3 on a 15-yard scramble to the left with 8:53 remaining in the 2nd quarter.
FAU scored its first touchdown of the season on a drive set up by a 38-yard kickoff return by Tavious Polo, the longest of his career. Smith looked to his right and fired a pass to Chris Bonner who kept his balance and stayed in bounds while he walked up the sideline for a 23-yard touchdown that brought FAU to within 17-10.
The Gamecocks took over at the FAU 38 after Smith's intercpetion to open the second half, and scored three plays later on a 3-yard run by Maddox; putting South Carolina up 24-16.
The Gamecocks extended the lead to 31-16 when Maddox scored his third touchdown of the game on a 6-yard pass from Garcia.
Giles scored easily on a 12-yard touchdown run, his first career score, to make it 38-16.
FAU threatened to score early in the fourth quarter, but failed to convert a 4th and 1 play from the South Carolina 4 when Smith didn’t see a wide-open Darian Williams and threw an incomplete pass through the back of the end zone.
GameBrowser: South Carolina 38, Florida Atlantic 16
Turning point: In the third quarter, South Carolina blew the game open with big plays. The Gamecocks were able to use a scoring drive of three plays and two drives that were four plays long to take control of the game
Moving forward: After the suspension of WR Cortez Gent, Chris Bonner raised the level of his play and finished with six catches for 57 yards and a TD …Mickey Groody was solid in handling the punting duties finishing with an average of 41.5 yards per punt. …LB Malik Eugene had a fumble recovery in the fourth quarter
Moving backward: The run defense struggled as South Carolina shuffled in their corps of speedy running backs and the Gamecocks rushed for 287 yards. ..QB Rusty Smith was intercepted on a ball that shouldn’t have been thrown and fumbled when he was sacked in the third quarter by Eric Norwood …The FAU receivers have still not turned the corner when it comes to dropped passes. There way to many passes slipping through the hands of receivers.
Stat download: 287 - Rushing yards by South Carolina