{"id":64326,"date":"2024-09-15T11:00:54","date_gmt":"2024-09-15T15:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/?p=64326"},"modified":"2025-09-13T15:39:51","modified_gmt":"2025-09-13T19:39:51","slug":"lsu-overcomes-early-deficit-to-edge-south-carolina","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2024\/09\/15\/lsu-overcomes-early-deficit-to-edge-south-carolina\/","title":{"rendered":"LSU Overcomes Early Deficit to Edge South Carolina"},"content":{"rendered":"

LSU came into South Carolina\u2019s rowdy Williams-Brice stadium with more questions<\/a> than answers about its team after two games. The Gamecocks rudely and forcefully answered lingering questions about the Tiger defense before coming up agonizingly short in a 36-33 LSU win. In a game filled with big plays and momentum swings, South Carolina came out sharp and aggressive.<\/p>\n

LSU Defeats South Carolina<\/h2>\n

USC\u2019s Opening Onslaught<\/strong><\/h3>\n

South Carolina\u2019s first drive was a harbinger of things to come for the LSU defense, particularly in the first half. The first play of the game was a simple completion to the tight end in the flat after which LSU\u2019s Harold Perkins<\/a> missed the tackle, leading to a first down. This drive led to an easy touchdown run for quarterback LaNorris Sellers<\/a>, and missed tackles would go on to plague the Tigers for the remainder of the game.<\/p>\n

LSU struggled to protect Garrett Nussmeier<\/a> early, resulting in punts on the Tigers\u2019 first three possessions. South Carolina’s Maurice Brown blocked the third punt to put the Gamecocks in scoring position at the LSU 10. The LSU defense promptly ushered Rocket Sanders<\/a> in for a touchdown run to put USC up 17-0. South Carolina did not punt in the first half, and LSU\u2019s only stop came on a Zy Alexander interception.<\/p>\n

When the Bayou Bengals weren\u2019t giving up 75-yard touchdown runs (untouched) to Sellers, they were fighting back to get into the contest. The final two drives of the first half served as defining moments for this game. Nussmeier led a 75-yard drive punctuated by a touchdown pass to Kyren Lacy<\/a> to cut the Carolina lead to 24-16. The Gamecocks\u2019 ensuing drive was cut short by a Robby Ashford sack by Sai\u2019vion Jones<\/a>. The bigger news was a sack on the previous play injured Sellers, removing a vital part of the South Carolina offense.<\/p>\n

Deja Vu All Over Again<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The Tiger offense took advantage of the first possession of the second half by marching down the field with the help of a beautiful 46-yard dime from Nussmeier to Aaron Anderson<\/a>. Eventually, the Tigers would unfortunately get down to the Gamecocks\u2019 one-yard line. Brian Kelly has repeatedly shown<\/a> that he is going for the touchdown in these situations, and he did so again. Nussmeier\u2019s fourth down pass fell incomplete, and USC got the ball back.<\/p>\n

LSU was able to stop South Carolina and score a touchdown on its next possession. Of course, the touchdown was critical, but there was another significant development on that drive. The Tigers might have found their best running back in freshman Caden Durham<\/a>. Durham had runs of 9 and 20 yards. Most importantly, the first defender did not bring Durham down.<\/p>\n

LSU and South Carolina traded haymakers like prize fighters in the second half. The Tigers took the lead, then Sanders had a 66-yard touchdown run to take it back. South Carolina\u2019s Ashford lost a fumble, but Nussmeier threw a red zone interception. Both fanbases were tormented by big plays and bigger penalties that often killed the big plays. LSU scored the go-ahead touchdown with 1:12 left in the game before South Carolina\u2019s last hope, a 49-yard field goal sailed left of the uprights.<\/p>\n

What We Learned<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The Tigers are an exciting but flawed team. It\u2019s rare to give up 243 yards on the ground and come out with a win, especially on the road. The LSU defensive line is young and thin, but there\u2019s no excuse for the linebackers. Undisciplined eyes, inability to get off blocks, bad tackling, and an overall lack of impact led to the Gamecocks running the ball successfully even when everybody knew they were running it. Giving credit where it\u2019s due, Perkins and the defensive ends were disruptive. Perkins\u2019 stats won\u2019t show it, but he wrecked plays when rushing and freed up other rushers. The Tigers had nine tackles for loss, including five sacks.<\/p>\n

Durham\u2019s performance could lead to LSU finally getting the balance it sorely needs on offense. The odds won\u2019t allow Nussmeier to continue to drop back in a one-dimensional offense and avoid mistakes. Durham approached 100 yards on only 11 carries and is simply harder to tackle in the open field than LSU\u2019s other backs<\/a>. It can’t be stressed enough how much easier the game will become for Nussmeier if LSU’s run game can threaten defenses.<\/p>\n

The sky is the limit for Sellers. It\u2019s scary what he can be as he gains experience and grows as a passer. The South Carolina defense is as advertised, and this is a team that\u2019s on the rise. LSU didn\u2019t look great today, but South Carolina had a lot to do with that in outplaying the Tigers for three quarters. The Tigers will learn a lot about themselves throughout the season; it\u2019s possible they\u2019re not who we thought they were. However, learning a lesson while getting the win is always a positive.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Photo Credit: Scott Kinser-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LSU came into South Carolina\u2019s rowdy Williams-Brice stadium with more questions than answers about its team after two games. The Gamecocks rudely and forcefully answered lingering questions about the Tiger defense before coming up agonizingly short in a 36-33 LSU win. In a game filled with big plays and momentum swings, South Carolina came out […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4690,"featured_media":64334,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,10906,8,35577,2056],"tags":[729,86,34151,9186,20,80,9916],"class_list":["post-64326","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sec","category-cfb","category-fbs","category-south-carolina-gamecocks","category-top-25","tag-brian-kelly","tag-lsu-tigers","tag-maurice-brown","tag-robby-ashford","tag-sec","tag-south-carolina-gamecocks","tag-zy-alexander"],"modified_by":"Michael Kovacs, ADMIN","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64326","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4690"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64326"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64326\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":79284,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64326\/revisions\/79284"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64334"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64326"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64326"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64326"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}