Second Quarter LIVE Blog: Auburn at South Carolina

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We are now in South Carolina's third possession with the Gamecocks driving inside the Auburn 20 yard line.

Auburn leads 7-0 after one quarter of play

Please click Continue below to continue reading this LIVE BlogThird South Carolina Possession (Cont'd)

Heh... Auburn's Tiger was prowling in the hedges, angering the South Carolina's fans.

Cory Boyd doesn't gain much on a run up the middle on first down. Newton again runs but gets drilled by Auburn's David Irons after a shotgun/five receiver look. The mobile quarterback is really frustrating Auburn's defense. Third and six... South Carolina again from shotgun/five receiver, Auburn blitzes, Newton fumbles and Auburn's Marquies Gunn recovers and runs a long way down the field, before HE fumbles and South Carolina recovers THAT fumble.

What a wild play!

Both coaches look embarrassed. That's two turnovers for South Carolina now after marching all the way down the field. At least they got the ball back on this one but lost heavy yardage.

South Carolina restarts from its 39 yard line. Mike Davis runs for about five yards to the right side on first down. Davis runs up the middle for another five yards to get the first down. Auburn's defense is leaky and they're giving up yards and first downs against the run. Interesting.

Newton runs for nine yards on first down after pump faking twice and finding nothing going in the passing game. Auburn's David Irons is injured, stopping this game as his teammate fell right on his back pretty violently as the last play went out of bounds. TV timeout.

Back from timeout, Irons is o-k but he's been replaced by frosh Jerraud Powers. Mike Davis runs for two yards, left side for the South Carolina first down.

Davis takes a handoff on first down, no gain from the shotgun formation. That's 19 carries in 23 plays for South Carolina. Irons is back in the game now. Newton is sacked on second and nine. As fine of a day as he's having running the ball, he can't find anything going against Auburn's coverage scheme. Third and 17 for South Carolina...nice little screen with McKinley breaking some tackles but comes up just a little short. Succop comes in for the field goal on fourth and four. This is a 49-yard attempt... it's good!

Auburn 7, South Carolina 3 with 9:09 left in the second quarter.

Third Auburn Possession

The kickoff is a touchback, so first down from the twenty now for the Tigers. Irons runs for two tough yards to the outside. Cox gets sacked on second down on a five step drop. Third and twelve, Cox stands in the pocket and hits Prechae Rodriguez for the fifteen yard game.

Biiiiig run for Kenny Irons, getting to the South Carolina 45 after dancing through their defense. Nifty little run there breaking one tackle and dragging another defender before going down. He now has 66 yards rushing.

Irons gets the ball again on first down, dashing outside for five more yards. Cox changes the play at the line and Irons runs up the middle for twelve yards and another first down. Nice play by Brandon Cox to switch to the run.

Irons' line: 11 carries, 83 yards, TD

Quick handoff to fullback Carl Stewart for a big gain up the middle to the eight.

Pitch outside to Irons, no gain, another stop for Jasper Brinkley. Play action pass to TE Tommy Trott who ambles in for the touchdown.

Auburn leads South Carolina 14-3 with 4:37 left in the second quarter.

Herbie "boy oh boy do we love the Al Borges offense when it's working like this". I love it too when the Tigers show a willingness to move the ball downfield and score.

Fourth South Carolina Possession

South Carolina first down from their 23 after the Auburn touchdown quieted their crowd.

Incomplete pass to the tight end in the flats, overthrow by Newton. Newton short gain on the designed run as Auburn's defense collapsed the running lane. Newton hits Rice right near the first down marker (it's a little unclear if that was even a catch, we'll see if the replay guys call for a review), just a hair short of the first down but there's a flag. Offsides against Auburn is the call. The officials call timeout to measure whether this play is a first down and it's... short by an inch or two. Way too much going on here.

Spurrier accepts the penalty, so repeat third down now. Smart decision.

McKinley makes the grab on the drag route for a looong gain to the Auburn 41 yard line. The commentators are smartly noting that Auburn's achilles heel this year is third down defensive stops.

First down here with 3:10 left, plenty of time to get a score. Short pass to Cory Boyd in the flats. Auburn blitzes again and pressure a throwaway pass out of Newton, stopping the clock at 2:25. Once again South Carolina converts on third down, again to McKinley against Auburn backup safety Gilbert on the post corner route. Nice pass, nice call, ball to the Auburn 19 with 2:01 left and counting.

Delayed handoff to Boyd on first down, who runs for about two yards. Nothing going on the pass play so Newton again tucks and runs for a few yards, clock running inside of a minute now, third down again for South Carolina. The Gamecocks call a timeout now, 0:51 left in the half. Third and four from the 15, Newton tosses the touchdown to McKinley on the leaping grab!!!!

Thirteen-yard touchdown catch, again picking on Zach Gilbert. The play is under review... and it stands.

Auburn leads South Carolina 14-10 with 0:46 left in the half.

Fourth Auburn Possession

South Carolina kicks off and it's a touchback. Irons gets the run and gains five yards as the clock runs out on the half.

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