South Carolina tops Mocs 49-9
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Jake Bentley passed for 339 yards and four touchdowns as South Carolina became bowl-eligible with a 49-9 win over the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga on Saturday night.
A.J. Turner, a junior with eight career touchdowns coming in, accounted for three touchdowns for the Southeastern Conference’s Gamecocks (6-4) against the Mocs (6-5) of the Football Championship Subdivision and the Southern Conference.
The Gamecocks, who fell to FCS opponent The Citadel at home three years ago, didn’t want to mess around with UTC. Bentley and Turner made sure they started fast, with touchdowns on their first three possessions.
Bentley was 5-of-6 passing on South Carolina’s opening possession, including a 16-yard touchdown throw to Turner.
He was at it again the next time he got the ball with a 12-play drive that ended with a 6-yard scoring toss to Turner.
Turner was front and center on the next drive, too, finishing the series with an 11-yard scoring run.
Turner had only one touchdown in eight games this season before breaking out big against UTC in the opening half.
Bentley, who was 25-of29 passing, didn’t stop after the break — adding scoring throws of 53 yards to Shi Smith and 61 yards to Deebo Samuel.
Bentley tied his career high of four touchdowns, first accomplished in a win over Coastal Carolina in September.
Samuel finished with five catches for 112 yards, his second straight game with more than 100 receiving yards.
The Mocs were overmatched from the start. They had a field goal and an extrapoint attempt blocked, and they were just 1-for-8 on thirddown tries in the opening half.
Their lone touchdown came when sophomore receiver Bryce Nunnelly threw a 2-yard scoring pass to wideopen quarterback Nick Tiano with less than five minutes left in the game.
The Mocs were in the thick of the SoCon race the first two months of the season but fell to 0-3 in November with this loss.
After making the FCS playoffs for three straight seasons through 2016, the Mocs have gone 9-13 the past two seasons under coach Tom Arth. The team doubled its win total from Arth’s first season but struggled down the stretch after thriving late last year.
Beating an FCS team does not make all OK for the Gamecocks, but it does take some of the sting out of their fourth-quarter collapse at Florida a week earlier.