Memphis, TN - Blake Mitchell threw four touchdown passes to
guide South Carolina past Houston, 44-36, in an Autozone Liberty Bowl
shootout.
Mitchell finished 19-of-29 for 323 yards with an interception for the
Gamecocks (8-5), who improved to 4-9 in bowl games. Two of his touchdown
tosses were 43-yard heaves to Kenny McKinley in the fourth quarter that helped
deliver the victory. McKinley finished with three grabs for 112 yards, while
Sidney Rice caught eight passes for 139 yards and a score. Cory Boyd added 94
yards and a pair of TDs on the ground.
Kevin Kolb went 26-of-39 for 386 yards with three touchdowns and a pick for
Houston (10-4), which had a six-game winning steak snapped. Jackie Battle had
two rushing touchdowns in the contest, and finished with 85 yards on 11
carries. Vincent Marshall led all receivers with nine catches for 201 yards
and two TDs.
South Carolina trailed 28-27 at intermission, but accrued 16 unanswered points
to gain control.
The only scoring in the third quarter was a 45-yard Ryan Succop field goal
with 9:55 on the clock that put the Gamecocks up by two.
A pair of 43-yard TD strikes from Mitchell to McKinley in the fourth quarter
put South Carolina ahead 44-28. The first one came with 12:15 remaining, as
McKinley made a double move to shake loose, hauled in a perfectly-placed pass
and then glided into the end zone. Minutes later, the wideout fought for a
ball along the right sideline, sidestepped a defender and then raced to pay
dirt.
The Cougars pulled within eight on a three-yard touchdown run by Battle plus a
successful two-point conversion with 5:42 on the clock. They had a good chance
to pull even a few minutes later when the defense stuffed the Gamecocks on
4th-and-1, setting Kolb and company up at their opponent's 37-yard line.
Kolb was sacked for a 13-yard loss by Casper Brinkley on first down,
however, leading to a four-and-out that iced the game.
'They couldn't stop us until we needed to make a first down to clinch the
game, and we couldn't do it. I give Houston credit for stopping us, and I give
our defensive players credit for stopping them guys to win the game for us,'
said Gamecocks head coach Steve Spurrier.
A frenzied first half ended with the Cougars holding a slight 28-27 edge. The
55 points were the most scored in a first half in Liberty Bowl history.
Houston opened up the scoring about two minutes into the contest, as Kolb
connected with Marshall for a 32-yard touchdown strike to make it 7-0.
South Carolina countered with a nine-play, 51-yard march later in the quarter
which Boyd capped with a two-yard TD run to draw his team even.
Both offenses really took off in the second frame, combining for 41 points.
The Gamecocks set the frantic pace with 10:47 left in the second on a one-
yard touchdown pass from Mitchell to Robert Pavlovic. Succop missed the extra
point, however, and also failed on a 33-yard field goal attempt earlier in the
contest.
The Cougars struck right back, engineering a 12-play, 80-yard drive that ended
with a four-yard TD pass from Kolb to Mark Hafner.
The last four scores of the half came in the final 2:53. Mitchell connected
with Rice first for a 19-yard strike, then Battle broke off a 42-yard TD run
that put Houston back on top, 21-20. South Carolina stormed right back down
the field and scored on a nine-yard Boyd run with 42 ticks on the clock.
Undaunted, Marshall took a short pass from Kolb and raced 77 yards down the
sideline to pay dirt to put his team back in front at the break.
'They had been playing us man the whole time,' Marshall said. 'I love man
coverage. He was in front of me and I made a move and I saw Kevin (Kolb)
scrambling so I tried to get in his vision and he saw me and it was over after
that.'
Game Notes
The Cougars are 7-9-1 all-time in bowl games and haven't won a bowl tilt since
beating Navy in the 1980 Garden State Bowl.
The Gamecocks have won four of
their last five bowl games since starting 0-8.
© 2006 The Sports Network
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