Sooners stuffed: South Carolina defense delivers in big way in win over Oklahoma

This was a rout to release the demons. The garlic and sage for a struggling football team. The recipe to kill all the bad juju.

Nick Emmanwori picks off Oklahoma quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr. on the first play of the game. Adios to the LSU loss.

Demetrius Knight forces a fumble and 288-pound Tonka Hemingway scoops it up, rumbling to a 36-yard score. Forget about the Ole Miss blowout.

Emmanwori picks off Hawkins again, running the interception back 65 yards for a touchdown. Who can even remember the Alabama game?

Just over five minutes into what became a 35-9 Gamecocks victory, South Carolina could breathe. Coach Shane Beamer, returning to the place he coached for three years, could let his shoulders drop. The Gamecocks (4-3, 2-3 SEC) were the better team in the way a Lamborghini is nicer than a station wagon.

Saturday’s game in Norman kicked off at 11:45 a.m. local time. By 12:02, the game was in the bag. Yes, it’s silly to declare a game over after just five minutes — especially in this insane sport — but Saturday was as close as you’ll get.

There were still nearly 10 minutes left in the first quarter … and the Gamecocks had 21 points. They had three turnovers. They had Sooners fans thinking about their afternoon plans.

Saturday lived up to the billing of a defensive slugfest, but most didn’t consider one of the defenses could score enough points by themselves to win outright. That one defense could be so dominant that it didn’t need to even concern itself with how its offense played.

At halftime, after quarterback LaNorris Sellers hit tight Joshua Simon on a long touchdown, South Carolina was up 29 points. Walking to the locker room, Beamer was asked by SEC Network’s Alyssa Lang if he was going to tell his guys it’s 0-0, that it’s all about what they do in the second half.

Not exactly.

“It ain’t 0-0,” Beamer said. “We’re dominating this game and we expect to dominate the second half.”

Last week after the loss to Alabama, the Gamecocks head coach stood up, deflated, trying to toe the balance of not wanting to celebrate a loss and telling folks that his team was close. Close to turning a corner. Close to winning close games.

The Gamecocks, Beamer said, were knocking at the door and when they opened it, they were going to bulldoze through it.

Was Saturday the day the door was ran through? Time will tell. Beating Oklahoma (4-3, 2-2), the worst-offensive team in the SEC is not quite the same as beating No. 7 Alabama, but it is progress. And it also perhaps furthered the case that South Carolina has one of, if not, the best defensive lines in the country.

The Gamecocks, rotating through seemingly everyone in the D-line room, racked up nine sacks and had another four tackles for loss. They were like grenades. It wasn’t a question of if they were going to blow up a play, but just how much carnage there would be.

Their domination lifted any pressure off the Gamecocks offense, which was not unbelievable, but solid. Sellers completed 16 of 24 passes for 175 yards while the Gamecocks ran for less than 100 yards.

But on this day, it was enough. More than enough.

Next South Carolina game

Who: South Carolina vs Texas A&M

When: Saturday, Nov. 2 (night kickoff, time TBD)

Where: Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, SC

TV: TBD

Gamecocks 2024 football schedule

• Aug. 31 – South Carolina 23, Old Dominion 19

• Sept. 7 – South Carolina 31, Kentucky 6

• Sept. 14 – No. 16 LSU 36, South Carolina 33

• Sept. 21 – South Carolina 50, Akron 7
  
  

• Oct. 5 – No. 12 Ole Miss 27, South Carolina 3

• Oct. 12 – No. 7 Alabama 27, South Carolina 25
  
  

• Oct. 19 – at Oklahoma – 12:45 p.m., SEC Network

• Nov. 2 – vs. Texas A&M – TBA (night)

• Nov. 9 – at Vanderbilt – TBA (afternoon)

• Nov. 16 – vs. Missouri – TBA (afternoon)
  
  

• Nov. 23 – vs. Wofford – 4 p.m., SEC Network+/ESPN+

• Nov. 30 – at Clemson – TBA