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South Carolina 19, Florida 14

Chris Dearing, The Sports Xchange

By CHRIS DEARING

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- South Carolina's hopes for an SEC East title are alive and well.

The No. 10 Gamecocks got four field goals from freshman Elliott Fry in the come-from-behind 19-14 victory over Florida on Saturday night at Williams-Brice Stadium.

Fry's 22-yard field goal with 6:43 remaining was the go-ahead score. He later added a 43-yard field goal with 2:16 remaining.

South Carolina cornerback Jimmy Legree's interception with 1:22 left ended the Florida's hopes.

The Gamecocks extended the nation's longest home winning streak to 16 games and finished SEC play with a 6-2 record, one game behind idle Missouri.

Georgia was eliminated earlier in the day with a loss to Auburn. Missouri has games remaining against Mississippi and Texas A&M. A loss in either game would put South Carolina into the SEC championship game for the second time in school history.

Trailing 14-6 at the half, South Carolina (8-2, 6-2) pulled within a point early in the third quarter.

After South Carolina got a three-and-out on defense, Gamecocks quarterback Connor Shaw capped a seven-play, 64-yard drive with a 32-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Bruce Ellington on a fourth-and-3 play.

But the Gamecocks' offense had difficulty moving the ball on the next two series. Running back Mike Davis, the SEC's leading rusher coming in, was hobbled with an ankle injury in the first half. He played in the second half, but it looked like he was a step slow.

South Carolina started its second-half drives on its own 36, 20, 20 and 10-yard line, but with their backs in the shadow of their end zone, they responded with a drive that kept their SEC East hopes alive.

Backup running back Shon Carson provided the spark. With the Gamecocks on their own 5-yard line, Carson broke through the middle for a 58-yard gain to the Florida 37. Rory Anderson caught a 32-yard from Shaw three plays later to move the ball to the 2, but South Carolina had to settle for the 22-yard field goal from Fry.

The Gators attempted a fake punt on the next series, but Leon Orr could not hold on to a Trey Burton pass and the Gamecocks took over on the Florida 32. Fry connected from 3 yard to make the Gators have to score a touchdown to take the lead.

Florida had to play without starting quarterback Tyler Murphy and gave redshirt freshman Skyler Morninweg his first career snaps. Because of Morninweg's inexperience, the Gators used multiple formations that included direct snaps to running backs and Wildcat formations to frustrate South Carolina.

Florida only attempted two passes in the first half but gained 169 yards on the ground. The Gators scored touchdowns on their first two drives and the Gamecocks had to settle for field goals. The two scoring drives covered 67 and 75 yards, and they used 11 and six plays, respectively, to take a 14-6 lead at the half.

South Carolina took the opening kickoff and reached the Gators 2 but had to settle for a 25-yard field goal from Fry. Behind the running of Kelvin Taylor, the Gators ran 7:18 off the clock and scored on a 20-yard run on a third-and-14 play.

The Gamecocks settled for a 45-yard field from Fry on their next possession before Florida went 75 yards in six plays to extend the lead eight. South Carolina helped the cause when the Gators lined up to punt on a fourth-and-4 from the South Carolina 37 but moved Trey Burton under center and drew the Gamecocks offside to extend the drive.

Two plays later, Taylor took a direct snap and danced through the middle for a 29-yard scoring run.

South Carolina had a chance to score just before the half, but Fry pushed a 37-yard field goal attempt wide right.

NOTES: Florida now has a five-game losing streak. They had a four-game losing streak in 2011. The last time they had a losing streak as long as five games came in 1979. ... Connor Shaw became the winningest starting quarterback in South Carolina history. He now has 25 career wins as a starter. He shared the record with Todd Ellis. ... This was just South Carolina's seventh win over Florida, but the Gamecocks have won three of the last four games in the series. The Gators lead the overall series 24-7-3.