Gators Finish Off Gamecocks 24-14, Finish Perfect vs SEC East

Saturday, November 14

Columbia, S.C.

12:00 PM

Florida Gators

9-1 , 7-1

South Carolina

3-7 , 1-7

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Florida

South Carolina

Gators Finish Off Gamecocks 24-14, Finish Perfect vs SEC East

Saturday, November 14, 2015 | Football

Box Score

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Junior tailback Kelvin Taylor's 1-yard touchdown run with 2:01 remaining iced a 24-14 victory for the Florida Gators over upset-minded South Carolina in their Southeastern Conference game Saturday at Williams-Brice Stadium.

Taylor's score came one play after he took off on spectacular 53-yard run on a third-and-8 from the UF 46. The Gators opted to play it safe and leave matters to their defense after the Gamecocks seized momentum by scoring touchdowns on back-to-back drives in the fourth period, but Taylor popped through the line, broke a tackle and sped to the USC 1.

He then finished the drive a play later, barreling into the end zone to give UF its double-digit cushion back.

"The art of winning is hard, guys. It's hard [and], I don't care who you are," said Florida coach Jim McElwain said. "We never had any panic. They played in the moment, in the now and figured out a way to sweep the East. Ain't a bad gig, man. Let's get excited about it."

The win wrapped Florida's conference schedule, as the Gators (9-1, 7-1), winners of three straight and having clinched the SEC East Division title last week, now have a pair of non-league games -- home against Florida Atlantic and Florida State -- before facing the West Division champ (likely Alabama) in the SEC Championship Game on Dec. 5 at Atlanta.

For UF, which swept its six East rivals, the postseason will be determined over the next three weeks.

"We're not looking ahead," said junior defensive Caleb Brantley said. "We're just worried about the moment."

Sophomore quarterback Treon Harris completed 19 of 33 passes for 256 yards and a touchdown, but for the second straight week had ball-security issues with two interceptions. Taylor finished with 105 yards on 20 carries. Freshman tailback Jordan Cronkrite scored a pair of touchdowns in the first half, one each rushing and receiving, as Florida put up 404 yards of total offense and dominated time of possession by holding the ball four seconds shy of 40 minutes.

South Carolina (3-7, 1-7) trailed 17-0 heading into the fourth quarter, but reduced that deficit to 17-14 with some trickery and a blown secondary assignment by the UF defense. The turn-around awakened the Gamecocks and their fans after the USC offense gained only 43 yards through three quarters.

The Gamecocks finished with 201 yards (only 21 on the ground), but cranked out 157 in the final period.

USC, with losses in five of its last six games, got on the board six minutes into the final period when wideout Pharoah Cooper took a lateral toss from quarterback Perry Orth and threw it back to Orth, who ran downfield past defensive end Jordan Sherit, for a 17-yard touchdown pass. The play put USC over 100 yards of offense for the game.

On the next possession, the Gamecocks' defense forced a three-and-out. After the Florida punt, South Carolina needed just five plays to go 74 yards, with Cooper running uncovered down the middle of the UF secondary -- past safety Marcus Maye -- for an easy 31-yard scoring strike.

Florida answered with a six-play, 75-yard drive, with Taylor providing the quick-hitter and finish.

Cronkrite's two touchdowns and a 39-yard field goal from Austin Hardin had the Gators up three scores and in control until Cooper sparked them with the first of his two big plays in the final period.

Cooper's second big play made things interesting ... for a few seconds.

Until Taylor put the game away.

"We ran an angle-block play," McElwain said. "They were pinching and we were able to get them out of gaps. Our guys did their job. As boring as that sounds, guys, there's something beautiful about when all 11 guys do their job and trust each other."

Cronkrite, the true freshman from Miami, scored on a 3-yard touchdown run late in the first quarter and a 41-yard pass from Harris midway through the second period. Hardin's field goal was his first attempt since his SEC East-clinching boot to beat Vanderbilt last week.

The two scores by Cronkite in the half equaled his number of touchdowns through the season's first nine games.

The first capped a 15-play, 87-yard march for UF, highlighted by a 25-yard pass from Harris to wide receiver Antonio Callaway and a fourth-and-1 conversion run by Taylor at the USC 40 that found the mark by maybe an inch. The touchdown came at the 1:50 mark, one play after Harris hit slotback Brandon Powell for a 9-yard gain on third-and-8.

Harris then led his offense on another long drive, 76 yards on 12 plays, including a trio of third-down conversions. The last of the three came when Harris was flushed from the pocket and heaved the ball for Cronkrite about 25 yards downfield. The pass should have been intercepted by Gamecocks defensive back Chris Lammons, but Harris was bailed out when the ball went through Lammons arms and into the hands of Cronkrite, who turned and ran the remaining 10 yards for the TD with 8:17 to play in the quarter.

UF had a chance to go up another score late in the half, until Harris, on a third-down scramble pass play, tried to force a pass to Callaway in the end zone. The freshman had four USC defensive backs in the area and D.J. Gurley came up with the interception on the goal line.

Harris was intercepted for the second time on the opening drive of the third quarter when he was hit trying to release the ball downfield and the ball popped up to a Gamecocks defensive lineman.

On the UF's second drive after intermission, the Gators went 70 yards in 12 plays before calling on Hardin, who with two straight converted field goals is now 5-for-11 on the season.

About 15 minutes later, the Gamecocks were in it. Then they they weren't.

"It always comes down to that last play or that last quarter," Cooper said. "And we just can't finish."

The Gators, on the other hand, are figuring out how to do just that.

"Last year, we didn't know how to win," sophomore cornerback Jalen Tabor said. "Now, you see us closing out and finishing games because we learned from last year."