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Rivalry rally: LaNorris Sellers, late surge lift South Carolina to win over Clemson

LaNorris Sellers couldn’t be denied on Saturday.

Neither could the South Carolina football team.

Sellers worked his magic at QB all afternoon and was the best player on the field as the Gamecocks beat rival Clemson, 17-14, in an instant classic and advanced themselves even further into the College Football Playoff conversation at 9-3.

With USC trailing 14-10 at Memorial Stadium, Sellers had the go-ahead rushing touchdown from 20 yards out with 1:08 to go — the last of many dazzling scrambles from the first-year starter, who racked up a career-high 166 rushing yards.

After Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik got the Tigers into field goal range in the final minute down three, the game felt destined to at least hit overtime. But with 16 seconds left and Clemson (9-3) at USC’s 18 with one timeout, Klubnik got pressured and threw an off-target pass that bounced off the hands of running back Phil Mafah.

Gamecocks linebacker Demetrius Knight, who’d already had a key fourth-down stop earlier in the game, was in the right place at the right time and dived to intercept Klubnik’s pass at South Carolina’s 15-yard line.

Gamecocks defenders sprinted to the opposite end zone to celebrate the turnover in front of Clemson’s student section, and the game ended in Sellers’ hands.

Pretty fitting, no?

The South Carolina QB took one final knee and the sort of pandemonium that comes with beating your in-state rival at their place in a top 15 matchup ensued.

“We knew it was going to be a war,” USC coach Shane Beamer said postgame. “It was two great teams going at it. We wanted to get the thing into the fourth quarter and find a way to win it.”

USC finishes the regular season 9-3 (5-3 SEC) and will certainly rise past its No. 15 ranking in the updated CFP Top 25 rankings on Tuesday, to the point where the Gamecocks will have a solid chance at an at-large bid to the 12-team field.

Beamer’s team (which closed as a 2.5-point underdog) reached nine wins for the first time since 2017, won a sixth straight game for the first time since 2013 and won a school-record fourth game against a ranked opponent this year.

“I get it, there are some deserving teams,” Beamer said. “But if the committee’s job is to pick the 12 best teams, you tell me on Selection Sunday: If South Carolina pops up in that bracket, I don’t know anyone that would be excited about playing this team. That is what I judge it on.”

Clemson, which led 14-7 entering the fourth quarter, isn’t eliminated from the CFP just yet. Since Syracuse beat Miami later Saturday, the Tigers advanced to the ACC championship game and will play SMU in Charlotte next Saturday.

Still, this is a crippling loss for coach Dabo Swinney and company, who fell to 9-3 and 7-1 in the ACC and now have lost two straight games to USC and Beamer at home after the Gamecocks stunned a top 10 Clemson team here in 2022.

The No. 12 Tigers started 6-1 but finished the regular season at 3-2 with losses to Louisville and, now, the Gamecocks. With three losses already, they’ll almost certainly have to beat SMU to make it into the 12-team CFP.

Clemson fell to 144-5 since 2011 when leading after three quarters.

“They’re the state champions for this year,” Swinney said. “Shane deserves a lot of credit ... We’ll give them credit and keep moving.”

South Carolina quarterback LaNorris Sellers (16) carries the ball in for the game-winning touchdown during the second half of the Palmetto Bowl between South Carolina and Clemson at Memorial Stadium in Clemson on Saturday, November 30, 2024.
South Carolina quarterback LaNorris Sellers (16) carries the ball in for the game-winning touchdown during the second half of the Palmetto Bowl between South Carolina and Clemson at Memorial Stadium in Clemson on Saturday, November 30, 2024.

Game recap

In front of a sellout crowd in Death Valley, Sellers showed off his athleticism with a 38-yard run on the game’s opening drive.

He avoided about four separate Clemson tackles on that play … then got strip-sacked at the Tigers’ 24 shortly afterward, nullifying a great scoring chance early.

It was a missed opportunity in a first half full of them for both sides.

Clemson (9-3) couldn’t get past midfield after defensive end T.J. Parker’s strip-sack of Sellers and had to punt. After forcing a punt on USC’s next drive, Clemson got chunk plays of 36 yards and 28 yards on catches from its two standout freshman receivers.

But no points.

Star Tigers running back Phil Mafah was tackled a yard short of the first-down marker on a pitch play, and Knight stuffed him on the ensuing fourth and 1 run.

Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik (2) plays South Carolina at home on Saturday, November 30, 2024.
Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik (2) plays South Carolina at home on Saturday, November 30, 2024.

Klubnik finally opened the game’s scoring with a 13-yard rushing touchdown on a quarterback draw, giving the Tigers a 7-0 lead with 12 minutes until halftime.

South Carolina shot right back with a six-play, 75-yard drive to tie the game 7-7 in the second quarter after a scoreless first frame, with Sellers, the Gamecocks’ standout redshirt freshman, making more defenders miss on a highlight 25-yard rushing score. The teams traded punts from there.

At halftime, they were deadlocked 7-7.

Clemson came out of halftime hot and put together a steady 11-play drive ending with Klubnik’s second rushing touchdown of the day (this one from 18 yards out) to retake the lead on its rival in the third quarter.

The Tigers then had a golden opportunity to go up two scores after cornerback Avieon Terrell forced USC running back Rocket Sanders to fumble. Clemson got to South Carolina’s 32, already leading 14-7.

But Clemson got cute with an under-center play that looked like some sort of double-pitch wide receiver reverse. Klubnik tripped taking the handoff, got the ball to Mafah and he tossed it backward to Bryant Wesco Jr. for a loss of six.

Or did he?

Refs whistled the ensuing play dead, reviewed it for about five minutes and concluded that Mafah had thrown a backward pass and “never secured” the ball, allowing the defense to recover. In other words: Possession to South Carolina.

The Gamecocks had the instincts to dive on Mafah’s pass after a wonky play and, for the second time Saturday, blocked Clemson from scoring after a USC turnover.

“All the reviews went against us today,” Swinney said, adding of the officiating: “Some strange things have happened this year that I really don’t have any explanation for. But again, we had every opportunity.”

But the Gamecocks couldn’t score either. Sellers got USC down to Clemson’s 11 with about 10 minutes to go in the game, but South Carolina got backed up into a second-and-22 after a post-play penalty on offensive lineman Torricelli Simpkins III.

On the next play? Clemson safety Khalil Barnes picked off Sellers at Clemson’s 9-yard line to give the Tigers a third forced turnover (and Sellers his second).

University of South Carolina quarterback LaNorris Sellers (16) avoids being tackled by Clemson cornerback Tavoy Feagin (6) on Saturday, November 30, 2024.
University of South Carolina quarterback LaNorris Sellers (16) avoids being tackled by Clemson cornerback Tavoy Feagin (6) on Saturday, November 30, 2024.

But Clemson went three-and-out after a high Klubnik pass and had to punt it back. After a promising drive fizzled, South Carolina’s Alex Herrera hit a 42-yard field goal to cut the score to 14-10 Clemson with 6:42 remaining in the game.

USC’s ensuing surprise onside kick attempt failed, but it didn’t matter. Even with great field position, Clemson went three and out again and gave possession right back to the Gamecocks, trailing 14-10 with 5:09 remaining.

Sellers worked his magic from there, scoring on a third and 15 play at Clemson’s 20-yard line to put the Gamecocks up 17-14 after they opened the fourth trailing 14-7.

“That kid is the best player in the country,” Beamer said of Sellers.

Then, Klubnik’s ill-timed interception, a black mark on an otherwise excellent performance of 342 total yards and two touchdowns, ended things.

In all, it was a memorable finale to only the seventh AP-ranked matchup between the rivals during their 121-game history and first since 2013.

“What an unbelievable college football game,” Swinney said. “That was college football at its finest. I thought both teams played with it all on the line. … Games like that usually come down to a couple plays, and that’s what happened.”