Oct. 18, 2008
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COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Jarrett Lee went 16-of-26 for 189 yards and LSU held South Carolina to minus-7 yards in the fourth quarter and the No. 13 Tigers beat the Gamecocks 24-17 on Saturday night.
LSU (5-1, 3-1 Southeastern Conference) took the lead for good on Charles Scott’s 2-yard touchdown run with 4:16 to go. It capped a grinding, 83-yard drive that took more than six minutes off the clock.
Then Curtis Taylor picked off Stephen Garcia two plays later, souring an otherwise remarkable game for the freshman, who accounted for 230 of 254 yards for South Carolina (5-3, 2-3) in his first career start.
The Tigers had a season-best six sacks. The last one ended South Carolina’s final drive into LSU territory and prompted Gamecocks coach Steve Spurrier to drop his headset on the ground and kick it. LSU held South Carolina to 42 total yards in the second half after allowing two touchdowns in the final 2:28 of the first half.
The Tigers bounced back from a 30-point loss to fifth-ranked Florida last week and still control their own destiny in the SEC West. They haven’t lost back-to-back games since 2002 and host No. 10 Georgia next week.
LSU trailed by a touchdown at halftime and failed to get a first down in its first two drives of the second half. But the Tigers finally got going late in the third quarter as Andrew Hatch, who usually comes in for running plays, rolled right, then threw back to a wide open Ricky Dixon for a 6-yard touchdown that tied the game at 17 with 44 seconds left in the third quarter.
Keiland Williams led LSU with 72 yards on 15 carries, while Scott, the SEC’s third-leading rusher coming into the game, ran for 61 yards on 16 carries. Demetrius Byrd caught three passes for 65 yards.
The loss snapped a four-game winning streak for South Carolina. Spurrier’s Gamecocks have now lost at least three SEC games in all four of his seasons. Only once in his 12 years in Florida did his teams lose three league games.
Garcia was 14-of-26 for 215 yards with a touchdown. He also carried the ball 19 times for 15 yards. The Gamecocks had just 39 yards rushing. Kenny McKinley caught four passes for 77 yards and tight end Jared Cook had five receptions for 74 yards.
With LSU up 10-3, South Carolina scored two touchdowns in the final 2:28 of the first half. Garcia led the Gamecocks on a four-play drive highlighted by the freshman’s 41-yard throw to McKinley and a 26-yard TD pass to tight end Weslye Saunders.
On LSU’s next play, Lee threw an interception that Carlos Thomas returned 46 yards to the Tigers 8. Mike Davis then barely fell into the end zone on fourth-and-1 to give the Gamecocks a 17-10 halftime lead.
