Germie Bernard scored on a 25-yard direct snap with 34 seconds remaining to help No. 4 Alabama rally to a 29-22 victory over South Carolina in Southeastern Conference play on Saturday afternoon at Columbia, S.C.
Bernard also had a late touchdown catch and DaShawn Jones registered a pick-six as the Crimson Tide (7-1, 5-0 SEC) ripped off their seventh straight victory. Ty Simpson completed 24 of 43 passes with 253 yards and a touchdown pass to Josh Cuevas, while Deonte Lawson forced a fumble that set up the winning points.
South Carolina’s LaNorris Sellers completed 18 of 32 passes for 222 yards, one touchdown, one interception and a huge lost fumble. Sellers also rushed for a game-high 67 yards and a touchdown as the Gamecocks (3-5, 1-5) lost for the fifth time in six games.
Nyck Harbor caught a touchdown pass and William Joyce kicked three field goals for South Carolina.
An upset looked possible after the Gamecocks scored 16 consecutive second-half points.
However, Alabama rallied to tie the score at 22 on a 14-play, 79-yard drive with 2:16 left in the game. The touchdown came on Simpson’s 4-yard pass to Bernard and then Simpson threw to Cuevas to record the tying conversion.
The Gamecocks took over but disaster struck when Lawson stripped the ball out of Sellers’ hands while Tim Keenan III was tackling the quarterback. Keenan recovered at the South Carolina 38-yard line with 1:39 left.
The Crimson Tide went ahead when Bernard took the direct snap, faked a pitch to Simpson coming his way and raced down the sideline on the decisive scoring run.
Alabama led 14-6 in the third quarter before Sellers tossed a 54-yard scoring pass to Harbor with 10:59 left in the quarter. The ensuing two-point conversion pass failed.
Later in the quarter, Joyce nailed a 47-yard field goal to give the Gamecocks 15-14 edge with 1:38 remaining in the period.
In the fourth, Sellers scored on a 10-yard run to give the Gamecocks an eight-point advantage with 10 minutes remaining.
South Carolina possessed the ball for nearly half of the first quarter to open the game before the 15-play drive ended on Joyce’s 24-yard field goal.
The Gamecocks forced a three-and-out to get the ball back. However, Sellers threw a pass in the right flat to Rahsul Faison, who had the ball bounce off his hands and into those of Jones, who ran 18 yards for a touchdown with 5:17 left in the quarter.
Joyce booted a 34-yard field goal to pull South Carolina within 7-6 with 4:23 left in the half. However, Simpson tossed a 3-yard scoring pass to Cuevas with 1:45 remaining as Alabama led by eight at the break.
