The national spotlight was on Columbia Saturday as College Gameday came to town for the South Carolina football team’s match against the LSU Tigers. 

The Gamecocks led for the majority of the game but fell 36-33 after blowing a 17-0 lead. Penalties cost South Carolina big with many game-changing plays being wiped off the board, including two pick-sixes. 

“I want to apologize to our fans.13 penalties, you're not going to win football games in the SEC with 13 penalties,” Gamecock head coach Shane Beamer said after the game. “We got to be better there, and that starts with me as the head football coach.”

Edge rusher Kyle Kennard was flagged on both pick-six plays. The first was a horse collar call committed on LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier that wiped away an O’Donnell Fortune pick-six. 

The second came in the fourth quarter and wiped away former Irmo star Nick Emmanwori’s 100-yard pick-six return. This was the most controversial play of the game as Kennard was given an unnecessary roughness penalty while making a block on Nussmeier, who was starting to chase after Emmanwori. 

That interception return would’ve put South Carolina up 40-29 with just under six minutes left in the game. Instead, the Gamecocks got the ball at their own 10 and went three and out. LSU took the lead on their next drive. 

“It’s hard to get that back,” linebacker Debo Williams said. “That’s 14 points off the board right there off of two pick-sixes” 

Starting quarterback LaNorris Sellers exited the game late in the second quarter after suffering an ankle injury on a sack by the LSU defense. Backup quarterback Robby Ashford started the second half before Sellers returned for one drive but looked significantly limited, limping during plays. 

“I think (the defender) just rolled up on my ankle, and then, it just kind of flattened,” Sellers said. “In the moment, it was hurting. But in halftime, they just took the tape off, looked at it, and they re-taped it, figured out nothing was really crazy wrong, then just re-taped it again.” 

Sellers did not return after his lone drive in the third quarter. He finished the game 9-16 for 113 yards and an interception. Sellers also rushed for two touchdowns, including a 75-yard sprint through the middle of LSU’s defense. 

The playbook was much more limited with Ashford under center. The Auburn transfer attempted just four passes, completing two of them for 42 yards. He made a few dynamic plays and put the Gamecocks in position to tie the game at the end. But his biggest play of the game, a 43-yard completion to receiver Dalevon Campbell, was wiped away by a pass interference penalty on Mazeo Bennett.

“You can't have those mistakes,” Ashford said. “Some calls are definitely iffy. Like the one to D-Camp, Mazeo was running a route, and they said he was blocking and take away maybe what was a 40-yard gain. Those kill drives because we had so much momentum. Then, it gets called back.” 

Despite the mistakes, the Gamecocks led for almost the entire game. LSU overcame a large deficit and scored a go-ahead touchdown with 1:12 left on the clock. 

Ashford quickly led the Gamecocks on a drive downfield into enemy territory but the drive stalled near the range of kicker Alex Herrera. 

Before the kick, instead of passing to get in a more comfortable kicking range, South Carolina ran it up the middle for one yard. The team then let the clock run down to four seconds and brought out Herrera for a 49-yard attempt. His kick was just wide to the left and with all zeros on the clock LSU escaped with a three-point win. 

Beamer explained the decision not to try for more yardage after the game. 

“I was just concerned about getting up there and something happening where we go backwards and don't get in field goal range,” Beamer said. “Hindsight being 2020, yeah you try and run one more play right there because you have a timeout. …  Just felt like we're in field goal range. We have confidence in Alex, and I certainly wanted to be aggressive, but let's be smart right here and kick the field goal.” 

South Carolina finished the game with 398 total yards of offense, including 243 yards rushing. LSU totaled 417 with the majority of their gains coming from the passing attack. 

South Carolina’s loss marks the first of the season. The team drops to 2-1 overall and 1-1 in SEC play. The Gamecocks can get back in the win column next week with a home game against Akron. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPNU.