Yahoo Sports Final: South Carolina jumps out to early lead, routs Oklahoma on the road
South Carolina is trying to snap a two-game losing streak Saturday when the coach Shane Beamer and the Gamecocks face the Oklahoma Sooners in football for the first time.
Kickoff is at 12:45 p.m. on SEC Network from Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Oklahoma.
Final Score
Q4: South Carolina 35, Oklahoma 9
USC padded its lead with a 33-yard field goal from Alex Herrera. The Gamecocks started the drive on the Oklahoma 21-yard line after a fumble by Jovantae Barnes . The drive went four plays, six yards, lasting 1:37.
Q3: South Carolina 32, Oklahoma 9
The Sooners scored their first touchdown of the day after two rare deep-pass plays, despite being the second-worst team in the nation for plays of 20 yards or more. Jackson Arnold connected with JJ Hester for 23 yards, then hit Brenen Thompson deep left for a 54-yard touchdown. Oklahoma’s two-point conversion attempt failed. The drive covered 90 yards in eight plays and took three minutes and 31 seconds.
First-half stats at a glance
Net total offensive yards: South Carolina leads 185-109; Net total passing yards: South Carolina leads 126-69; Net total rushing yards: South Carolina leads 59-40.
The Gamecocks’ defense has been dominant, forcing three turnovers that directly led to 21 points, including two interceptions by Nick Emmanwori. A failed Oklahoma fake punt deep in their own territory also set up a field goal. The defense has five sacks and eight tackles for loss.
LaNorris Sellers has completed 11 of 17 passes (65%) for 126 yards and rushed for 38 yards on seven attempts. Raheim “Rocket” Sanders has 15 yards on eight carries.
Q2: South Carolina 32, Oklahoma 3
On first-and-10 after the two-minute timeout, LaNorris Sellers connected with a wide-open Joshua Simon for a 33-yard touchdown. Maurice Brown ran in the two-point conversion, capping an 8-play, 75-yard drive that took 3:23 off the clock.
Q2: South Carolina 24, Oklahoma 3
The Sooners put together their best drive of the day, reaching Gamecock territory for the first time with their best drive of the day. Jackson Arnold completed 4-of-7 passes for 60 yards and added a nine-yard rush, but a sack by Tonka Hemingway on third down in the red zone forced Oklahoma to settle for a 44-yard field goal by Zach Schmit. The 11-play, 53-yard drive lasted 4:01 and ended a 17-drive scoring drought for the Sooners.
Q2: South Carolina 24, Oklahoma 0
Oklahoma attempted a fake punt deep in its own territory, but USC sniffed it out and took over on downs. Alex Herrera made a field goal after from 39 yards out. The scoring drive went four plays, four yards while spanning 1:52 of game time.
Q1: South Carolina 21, Oklahoma 0
The Gamecocks got their third takeaway of the afternoon as Nick Emmanwori got his second interception, taking this one back for the 66-yard pick six. The Sooners have only ran nine plays in their three drives and have 14 yards total.
Q1: South Carolina 14, Oklahoma 0
Tonka Hemingway recovered the fumble by QB Michael Hawkins Jr. and ran it back 36 yards for the scoop and score. The fumble, forced by Demetrius Knight Jr., is the Gamecocks’ second takeaway early in the first quarter.
Q1: South Carolina 7, Oklahoma 0
After Oklahoma QB Michael Hawkins Jr. threw an interception to Nick Emmanwori on the first play of the game, South Carolina took advantage of the short field to score first. Running back Rocket Sanders punched it in for South Carolina shortly afterward for a three-yard touchdown. The drive took five plays to go 41 yards and lasted 2:13.
Final availability report
South Carolina will be without Jared Brown (WR), Jalewis Solomon (DB), Kelvin Hunter (DB), Jakai Moore (OL) and DeAndre Jules (DT) for the game, according to the school’s final availability report released Saturday by the SEC.
Among the scholarship Gamecocks who did not travel for the game were: LB Mo Kaba, QB Dante Reno, edge rushers Wendell Gregory and Elijah Davis, DB Emory Floyd, TE Connor Cox, and WRs Tyshawn Russell, Elijah Caldwell and CJ Adams.
Uniform report
USC will wear black helmets, white jerseys and white pants for Saturday’s game. Oklahoma will wear crimson helmets, crimson jerseys and white pants.
Final betting line
Oklahoma opened as a much as a 7.5-point favorite, but that betting line has swung in favor of the Gamecocks. South Carolina is now a 1-point favorite, according to the VegasInsider consensus line that factors in multiple sportsbooks. And the over-under is 40.5 points, meaning those who set these betting lines don’t expect this to be a high-scoring game.
What channel is the Gamecocks game on today?
Who: South Carolina (3-3, 1-3 SEC) vs. Oklahoma (4-2, 1-2 SEC)
Where: Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Oklahoma
When: 12:45 p.m. Saturday
TV: SEC Network
Stream: ESPN.com and the ESPN app
On-air announce crew: Tom Hart (play-by-play), Cole Cubelic (analyst) and Alyssa Lang (sideline reporter)
Radio: 107.5 FM in the Columbia area (Todd Ellis, play-by-play; Tommy Suggs, analyst; Chet Tucker, sideline) … See all the radio affiliates around South Carolina here.
Satellite radio: Sirius/XM channel 374