Head Ball Coach Can't Believe South Carolina Lost To Mizzou

Early in the fourth quarter South Carolina wide receiver Pharoh Cooper caught a 23 yard touchdown
pass from Dylan Thompson to give the Gamecocks at 20-7 lead at home.



Though the 'Cocks nailed the extra point head coach Steve Spurrier's gut said go for two.

'I messed up on the two-point conversion, should have gone for it." Spurrier said.  "I wasn’t even thinking about it until I looked up and saw it was 20-7. I had something in my mind that 16-7 might be real good the way our defense was playing. All of a sudden Pharoh [Cooper] caught that [the touchdown pass] and nobody even on the bench thought about it [going for two points]. I looked up and said you know what we should have gone for two, too late now. That was a mistake on my part."

That's because Mizzou scored 14 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to stun South Carolina 21-20 leaving the head ball coach sick at his stomach.



"It was a tough night for us."  Spurrier said.

Meanwhile Gary Pinkel was thrilled.

"When things got tough, we just stayed positive." Pinkel said. "Big win for us."

It's big because Mizzou is the only team in the SEC East that's undefeated in conference play.

"We just have got to focus on getting better and the confidence level that you gain for something like this is significant."  Pinkel said.  "We’ve got to be a lot better football team. We’ve got to use this to make us better, not use this to make us feel good.”

ICYMI: Mizzou Squeezes Past Okie State in Cotton Bowl

If you weren't at home in front of your TV Friday night, you missed some pretty good big-boy College Football.

That includes the Cotton Bowl where Missouri scored 14 points in the last 3:08 of the game to beat a game Oklahoma State squad 41-31.

The star of the game: Missouri RB Henry Josey, who only rushed for 91 yards, but he scored 3 TD's. The last being at the 3:08 mark in the game, giving Missouri the lead. A lead they would grow just a minute left in the game..

That's when star Defensive End Michael Sam stopped a potential game winning drive by Okie State. Sam sacked Cowboy's QB Clint Chelf in scoring range. Chelf fumbled the ball. The fumble was scooped up by Shane Ray who took it back 73 yards and a touchdown.

The win finished a very successful season for the Tigers, who won the SEC East title before losing to Auburn in the SEC Championship game.

Your highlights from FOX Sports:

ICYMI: Auburn Outscores Missouri, The BCS Magic Carpet Ride Continues….

Talk about your dream season. Yeah, we're talking about you Auburn…

After snatching victory from the jaws of defeat twice in the final 3 weeks of the regular season, Auburn University is BCS title game bound.

The Tigers, behind 46 carries and 304 yards rushing from running back Tre Mason, beat Missouri in an SEC track meet masquerading as a football game, 59-42.

The game didn't exactly feature a lot of defense, but Auburn's did enough to stop Mizzou when it needed to.

And that was all Tiger coach Gus Malzahn's high powered offense needed. 545 yards rushing was more than enough to overcome 2 Nick Marshall fumbles and 10-penalties.

CBS Sports gives us our highlights:



So…the Auburn win, combined with the Ohio State gag job makes everyone south of Kentucky (SEC world) happy and continues the run of SEC teams in the title game.

It sets up an Auburn/FSU game which should be just as high scoring as this one. Though we might add the Seminole defense is considerably better than Missouri's.

We won't make our pick for that game here, but we will add that it will be hard to pick against Auburn, who will not be favored. The Tigers have escaped twice and if you ask even the most die-hard of Tiger fan in August if they thought this game would happen, they'd be lying to you through their teeth.

Auburn Athletics shows the scene at the famed Toomer's Corner, a scene that got even crazier once fans realized Ohio State was losing and their beloved Tigers were Pasadena bound…

Conner Shaw Rallies Gamecocks Off The Bench For 27-24 Win Over Missouri In Double Overtime

Conner Shaw after 27-24 win over Missouri

South Carolina quarterback Conner Shaw wasn't suppose to play against Missouri.  A sprained left knee was causing Shaw to watch the game from the sidelines.

Shaw and the Head Ball Coach didn't like what they were seeing.

The Gamecocks committed three turnovers, gave up the ball on down twice and missed a field goal.  

Mid-way through the third quarter Missouri was up 17-0 and Tiger fans were thinking about a trip to Atlanta and the SEC Championship Game on early December.

The Gamecocks' season was on life support.

Enter Conner Shaw.

"I went over and asked him if he could play and he said sure."  South Carolina head coach Steve Spurrier said.  "I said we had to make the move now. Dylan was just a little off here and there. I thought he had a few guys open and he zinged them out, but he threw some good balls. It just wasn't his night and Connor gave us a little sharpness in there."

It turned out to be perhaps and season defining move by the Head Ball Coach.  Shaw relieved Dylan Thompson and led the Gamecocks to a pair of touchdowns and a field goal force overtime.

Then on the overtime Shaw led South Carolina to a touchdown and a field goal and that was enough.

Missouri kicker Andrew Baggatt missed a 24 yard field goal off the left upright and South Carolina escaped Columbia, Missouri with their season saved for the time being.




“God is great, man,” Shaw said. “I wasn’t even supposed to be playing this game. Give all the glory up top.”



Shaw finished the night 20-of-29 for 201 yards and three touchdowns.

“It was a game I thought we were dead," Spurrier said. “It just worked out tonight. That’s all you can say, it was meant to be.”



"I thought it was a very courageous effort on his part". Missouri head coach Gary Pinkel said.

South Carolina is back in the race for the SEC Championship.  

It was a stunning loss for Missouri.

"Our guys are certainly frustrated and disappointed, and they should be." Pinkel said.  "They are competitors and we will have to bounce back from this."