They did what needed to be done.
The South Carolina Gamecocks collected another blowout win in their out-of-conference slate on Thursday night, rolling over S.C. State 50-10 in Williams-Brice Stadium after Hurricane Ian forced the game to be rescheduled.
The Gamecocks, who broke out a 1960s-era throwback helmet, put on an unfortunately contemporary performance, getting off to yet another slow start. The good news: South Carolina scored its first touchdown in the first quarter this season. The bad news: That was all, as the Gamecocks closed the period up 8-0 after a MarShawn Lloyd run and Tonka Hemingway 2-point conversion, which, in fairness, was extremely fun to watch as a #BigManMoment and merits inclusion here:
BIG MAN 2-PT CONVERSION
Tonka Hemingway does it himself @GamecockFB pic.twitter.com/9a3nfys07D
— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) September 29, 2022
The Gamecocks picked up the pace a bit in the second quarter, with Swiss Army knife tight end Jaheim Bell rumbling into the end zone to put South Carolina up 15-0. USC hit pay dirt again on its next drive, with quarterback Spencer Rattler using some fancy footwork to notch his first rushing touchdown of the season and stretch the advantage to 22-0 as the first half wound to a close.
The third quarter got off to a tumultuous start for South Carolina, however, as the Bulldogs put on their best offensive showing yet, marching down the field and going up 22-7 on an 8-play, 75-yard drive that felt too easy after an otherwise dominant defensive performance from USC. The Gamecocks answered, though, as Rattler connected with former Oklahoma teammate Austin Stogner on a 15-yard scoring strike. After South Carolina’s second interception of the game helped set USC up with a short field, the Gamecocks followed up Stogner’s score with a 1-yard Christian Beal-Smith plunge, pushing the advantage to 36-7 as the third quarter wound to a close.
South Carolina opened the fourth quarter with another interception in plus-territory and then another touchdown, with Lloyd tallying his second score to put USC up 43-7. After the Bulldogs mustered a field goal in response, backup quarterback Luke Doty got a highlight of his own and scampered 13 yards for a score to provide the final 50-10 margin.
South Carolina (3-2, 0-2 SEC) travels to face No. 7 Kentucky on Oct. 8 at 7:30 p.m. on SEC Network.