A spark in the second half provided by freshman quarterback Luke Doty was not enough to help South Carolina break its losing streak on Saturday at the Williams-Brice Stadium.
The Gamecocks fell to Missouri 17-10 in their fourth straight loss.
Doty came into play in the second half after South Carolina managed just 68 yards in the first half. He more than tripled those numbers with 130 passing yards and 58 running yards with the team’s highest score.
Playing their first game in 3 weeks, Missouri (3-3) took a 7-0 lead in their second possession. Quarterback Connor Bazalek found Tauskie Dove in the right corner of the endzone for a 20-yard touchdown. Bazalek finished with 203 yards.
Meanwhile, South Carolina’s attack was difficult after wide receiver Shi Smith left the game after a 2-player Tiger hit during a reception.
The Tigers made it 14-0 with 11:58 remaining in the 2nd quarter, when running back Larry Roundtree dived into the end zone for a 1 yard touchdown.
Just before the break, Harrison Mevis hit a 20-yard field goal to make it 17-0. Tigers capitalized on 2 mask penalties to extend the scoring boost.
Doty opened the second half for South Carolina. He led the Gamecocks in a scoring attempt that ended with Parker White’s 47-yard field goal.
The attack continued to show life under Doty, as he organized a 15-game, 85-yard campaign in the fourth quarter. He had a 25-yard finish for Nick Muse and converted a 4th down pass to Deshaun Fenwick, who scored in a 1-yard run to bring the Gamecocks into a score with 4:59 to go.
After the Gamecock defense forced a punt, the attack had to go 99 yards for the score to equalize. Doty managed to move football to 34, but Doty’s pass was intercepted by Devin Nicholson at 45 from South Carolina with 53 seconds remaining.
South Carolina (2-6) will play their last home game next week against Georgia.
