South Carolina 42, Oklahoma 25: Sellers' big plays outweigh three turnovers
LaNorris Sellers accounted for five touchdowns as South Carolina won 42-25 in Norman despite three turnovers, covering as 3.5-point underdogs.
South Carolina turned the ball over three times in Norman and still won by 17. LaNorris Sellers made that possible. He threw for 301 yards and three touchdowns, ran for 96 yards and two more, and hit two passes of 79 yards or longer. Oklahoma forced every turnover in the game and could not keep pace.
The Gamecocks have now won three straight and sit at 5-3. The Sooners fall to 4-4.
How it was won
Sellers opened the scoring with a 15-yard run at 6:26 of the first quarter. Oklahoma answered on the first play of the second quarter that mattered. K. Lewis intercepted Sellers and returned it 30 yards for a touchdown, tying the game 7-7 at 14:05.
South Carolina then scored three touchdowns before halftime. C. Clark ran in from a yard out at 11:20. Two minutes later Sellers found DJ Black for 84 yards, Black's only catch of the night. T. Sandell hit a 52-yard field goal to cut the gap to 21-10. Sellers then threw an 8-yard touchdown to N. Harbor with 16 seconds left, and South Carolina led 28-10 at the break.
Sellers added an 11-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter for a 35-10 lead. John Mateer hit Ivan Carreon for 34 yards on the first snap of the fourth, but the two-point try failed. South Carolina needed one play-count drive to answer: Sellers to Mazeo Bennett Jr. for 79 yards at 13:13. Sandell's 34-yard field goal and a second Mateer-to-Carreon touchdown, from 10 yards, closed the scoring. The second two-point try also failed.
The box score explains the margin. South Carolina gained 521 yards to Oklahoma's 359, rushed for 212 to 115, and converted 8 of 14 third downs. Sellers completed 19 of 24 passes. Jabree Coleman added 62 yards on 13 carries, and Bennett finished with 107 yards on four catches.
Oklahoma had more first downs, 24 to 22, but Mateer needed 43 attempts to reach 244 yards. Carreon caught five passes for 88 yards and both touchdowns, and Rocky Beers had four for 51. The Sooners went 7 of 16 on third down and ran for 115 yards, 29 of them from Mateer.
Against the number
Oklahoma closed as a 3.5-point favorite. South Carolina won outright by 17, so the Gamecocks covered with plenty to spare. The moneyline on South Carolina closed at +142, with Oklahoma at -170.
The total closed at 44.5. The teams combined for 67, and the over was settled by early in the fourth quarter. The pick-six and the long touchdowns did most of the work; the market did not price in a defense giving up two scores of 79-plus yards.
Full pricing history is on the game page.
What's next
South Carolina hosts Texas A&M on Saturday, November 7, on ESPN. The Gamecocks have beaten Tennessee and Florida in their last three games, and the turnovers here are the obvious item to clean up before the Aggies arrive.
Oklahoma travels to No. 17 Florida the same day, on SEC Network. South Carolina beat the Gators 38-19 in Gainesville earlier this season. The Sooners have alternated wins and losses for six straight games and need a road result to get back above .500.
