January 1, 2001 • Tampa Bay, Florida • 65,229 Attendance
| Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final |
| South Carolina | 0 | 3 | 7 | 14 | 24 |
| Ohio State | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
South Carolina capped off its amazing turnaround season with an impressive 24-7 win over Ohio State in the 2001 Outback Bowl.
Claiming only the second bowl victory in the program’s history, the Gamecocks ended the season 8-4 and ranked No. 19 in the AP rankings and No. 21 in the USA Today/ESPN poll.
Sophomore running back Ryan Brewer had a day to remember. The Troy, Ohio, native, who chose Carolina over his home-state university, dismantled the Buckeyes both on the ground and in the air. Brewer carried the ball 19 times, gaining 109 yards, and caught three passes for another 92 yards. The eventual game MVP was responsible for all of USC’s touchdowns, scoring on runs of seven and two yards and a 28-yard TD reception early in the fourth quarter that put the game out of reach.
Also contributing on the offense for USC was quarterback Phil Petty. The junior was 9-of-19 for 175 yards and a touchdown. Jermale Kelly and Brian Scott each caught three passes.
Defensively, the Gamecocks were led by linebacker Kenny Harney who had a total of eight tackles (six unassisted), with two of those going for a loss. True freshman Deandre’ Eiland contributed from his free safety position with two interceptions and tackles with three of them adding up to 17 yards of lost yardage for the Buckeyes.
Scoring Summary
2nd Quarter
USC Corse 23-yard field goal (10 plays, 47 yards, TOP 4:15); 12:42
3rd Quarter
USC Brewer 7-yard run (Corse kick) (7 plays, 28 yards, TOP 3:10); 10:53
OSU Gurr 0-yard fumble recovery (Stultz kick) (3 plays, 66 yards, TOP 1:15); 3:51
4th Quarter
USC Brewer 28-yard pass from Petty (Corse kick) (4 plays, 43 yards, TOP 0:54); 14:17
USC Brewer 2-yard run (Corse kick) (12 plays, 45 yards, TOP 7:10); 6:11
Game Statistics
| USC | OSU | |
| First Downs | 18 | 16 |
| Net Yards Rushing | 218 | 85 |
| Rushing Attempts | 51 | 33 |
| Net Yards Passing | 175 | 173 |
| Cmp.-Att.-Int. | 9-19-1 | 16-28-1 |
| Total Offense Yards | 393 | 258 |
| Total Offense Plays | 70 | 61 |
| Fumbles: No.-Lost | 1-0 | 3-1 |
| Penalties: No.-Yards | 7-50 | 9-65 |
| Punts: No.-Yards | 4-187 | 6-225 |
| Punt Average | 46.8 | 37.5 |
| Possession Time | 33:33 | 26:27 |
| Sacks By: No.-Yards | 4-23 | 1-9 |
South Carolina Statistics
Passing: Petty 19-9-1-175.
Rushing: Brewer 19-109; Pinnock 11-33; Smith 7-33; Petty 7-23; Alexander 5-11; Scott 1-7; Spikes 1-2.
Receiving: Brewer 3-92; Kelly 3-43; Scott 3-40.
Tackles: Harney 8, Eiland 7; Wadley 6; Edwards 5; Offord 5.
