LaNorris Sellers passed for 353 yards and five touchdowns as the No. 21 South Carolina Gamecocks defeated the No. 23 Missouri Tigers 34-30 Saturday in Columbia, S.C.
Rocket Sanders scored the decisive touchdown on a 15-yard shovel pass reception with 15 seconds left as the Gamecocks (7-3, 5-3 Southeastern Conference) kept their College Football Playoff hopes alive.
Sellers completed 21 of 30 passes and also rushed for 45 yards.
Missouri quarterback Brady Cook returned from ankle and wrist injuries to complete 21 of 31 passes for 237 yards and a touchdown.
Nate Noel rushed for 150 yards and a touchdown for the Tigers (7-3, 3-3 SEC), and Blake Craig kicked field goals from 38, 37 yards and 25 yards.
Missouri took an early 3-0 lead on Craig’s 38-yard field goal. South Carolina answered with a 75-yard touchdown drive, capped by Sellers’ 26-yard pass to Nyck Harbor, to take a 7-3 lead.
Craig’s 37-yard field goal cut Missouri’s deficit to 7-6.
Sellers completed a 43-yard pass to Harbor to set up his 6-yard TD pass to Joshua Simon with 1:57 left in the half as the Gamecocks made it 14-6.
After a defensive stop, the Gamecocks extended their lead to 21-6 on Jared Brown’s 38-yard touchdown catch and run with 39 seconds left in the half.
Missouri cut its deficit to 21-12 in the third quarter on a 2-yard TD run by Marcus Carroll. Cook’s conversion run failed.
Craig’s 25-yard goal with 12:49 left cut South Carolina’ lead to 21-15.
Cook’s 49-yard pass to Marquis Johnson set up Noel’s 1-yard touchdown to put the Tigers up 22-21 with 9:12 left.
Sellers marched the Gamecocks back to a 27-22 lead with 5:04 left, hitting a 47-yard pass to Dalevon Campbell to set up his 5-yard TD pass to Michael Smith. South Carolina’s 2-point conversion try failed.
On a fourth-and-5 play, Cook hit Luther Burden III on a 37-yard touchdown pass with 1:15 left. Jamal Roberts’ 2-point conversion put Missouri up 30-27, but the Gamecocks responded with the winning six-play, 70-yard drive.
–Field Level Media
