Vicari Swain returned a pair of second-quarter punts for touchdowns, helping No. 10 South Carolina overcome a slow start and pull away with a 38-10 win over South Carolina State on Saturday night in Columbia, S.C.
Swain, who padded South Carolina’s lead last Sunday in a 24-11 home win over Virginia Tech with an 80-yard punt-return touchdown, once again delivered a special teams spark for the Gamecocks (2-0).
With South Carolina facing a 3-0 deficit on Saturday, Swain returned a punt 65 yards for a touchdown to get the Gamecocks on the board with 5:01 left in the first half. Less than two minutes later, he again housed a punt, this one a 42-yard return after it was partially blocked, to make it 14-3 over the Bulldogs (1-1).
Two games into the season, Swain has tied the South Carolina single-season record with three punts returned for a touchdown, and already has the most punt-return touchdowns in a season by any player since Washington’s Dante Pettis returned four punts for touchdowns in 2017.
With William Joyce’s 49-yard field goal as time expired, the Gamecocks scored 17 points over the final 5:01 of the first half to distance themselves from their tepid offensive start.
The Gamecocks were outgained 89-12 in the first quarter, with no first downs to four penalties committed for 35 yards. Starting quarterback LaNorris Sellers was 0-for-3 in the opening 15 minutes.
While the Gamecocks were sputtering, the Bulldogs took an early lead by marching down the field on a nine-play, 54-yard drive to set up a 21-yard field goal for Nico Canavillas Alti.
SC State QB William Atkins IV got the start and completed 10 of 14 passes for 118 yards. He was replaced in the third quarter by Ryan Stubblefield, who was 8 of 14 for 90 yards and a touchdown.
The Gamecocks scored their elusive first offensive touchdown on the opening drive of the second half. Oscar Adaway III punched in a 5-yard run to make it 24-3.
A 46-yard fumble-return touchdown by Jaron Willis extended that lead to 31-3 midway through the third quarter, and Sellers’ only touchdown pass of the night, a 35-yard deep ball to Vandrevius Jacobs, made it 38-3 late in the third quarter.
Sellers was 11-for-19 (57.9 percent) for 128 yards with 23 rushing yards on eight carries.
With 12:32 left, the Bulldogs reached the end zone on a 9-yard touchdown pass from Stubblefield to Nicholas Sowell. It was the first touchdown the Gamecocks have allowed this season after starting out with seven quarters of touchdown-free play.
The Gamecocks won handily on the scoreboard despite being outgained 270-253 by the Bulldogs.
