TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — Alabama was pushed to the brink of a second straight Southeastern Conference upset loss.
This time the Crimson Tide survived, if only barely.
No. 7 Alabama (5-1, 2-1) botched the recovery of an onside kick to give South Carolina one last chance, but Domani Jackson intercepted LaNorris Sellers as time expired and the Tide escaped with a 27-25 win.
It was Alabama’s third straight game that went down to the very end, having beaten then-No. 2 Georgia 41-34 a week before losing 40-35 to Vanderbilt.
“Another game down to the wire,” Tide coach Kalen DeBoer said. “We’re kind of getting accustomed to those. There’s some things that we can do to make sure it doesn’t get to that point. But we always talk about finding a way to win. As many times as it looked like we weren’t, we did.”
With 43 seconds remaining, Sellers hit Nyck Harbor for a 31-yard touchdown, but the Gamecocks (3-2, 1-3) failed to convert on their two-point attempt. They recovered the ensuing onside kick, but Sellers’ desperation heave toward the end zone with 13 seconds remaining was intercepted at the goal line by Jackson.
“We expected to win this game,” South Carolina coach Shane Beamer said. “Nobody was coming in here at halftime doing cartwheels because we were in a tight game with Alabama. We expected that, because we have a good football team. Life in this conference is really hard.”
Jalen Milroe rushed for a 7-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter and then hit Germie Bernard for a late 34-yard score to help Alabama survive the scare. It wasn’t quite the emphatic rebound win they were hoping to produce.
“It’s not the ‘W’ that we wanted,” Alabama defensive lineman Tim Smith said. “It should have been a lot more dominant and physical, but a ‘W’ is a ‘W,’ man.”
Milroe delivered when he had to in a game where he was intercepted twice and flagged for intentional grounding on a sack in the end zone for a safety. Facing third-and-10, he found Bernard downfield without a defender anywhere in the vicinity with 1:54 left to cap a 10-play drive.
“There was a lot of safe avenues and things that we discussed on that play and I think that they were aggressive in trying to play a lot of those,” DeBoer said. “There was a deeper route and I love that Jalen saw it.”
Milroe was 16-of-23 passing for 209 yards with a touchdown and two rushing scores. Sellers was 23 of 31 for 238 yards with two TDs and the final pick.
The Gamecocks entered the fourth quarter with a lead and had a chance to retake it. But Alex Herrera’s 51-yard field goal attempt, which would have been a career long, was short.
Milroe had taken advantage of a Sellers fumble with his 7-yard touchdown run with 10:42 left but the two-point pass failed, leaving it 20-19.
He was relegated to cheerleader at the end with the defense on the field, just like against Vandy and Georgia.
“When we talk about team, that’s a great example of just finding a way as a group to just cheer on whoever’s on the field and everyone just buying in,” Milroe said.
Alabama’s 14-0 lead was whittled down to two over the final 1:37 before halftime amid a series of South Carolina’s big plays and Tide snafus. It included the safety, turnovers from each team and Sellers’ fourth-and-9 pass to a wide-open Mazeo Bennett Jr. for a 36-yard score.
“There was some crazy stuff but our guys just kept hanging in there,” Beamer said.
The takeaway
South Carolina: The Gamecocks largely turned things around after a 27-3 home loss to No. 9 Mississippi, with Sellers outplaying Milroe for much of the way.
Alabama: That dominant first half and win over Georgia seems like a different season now. But like that game, the Tide managed to hold on.
Poll implications
Alabama could fall in the rankings despite the win.
Up next
South Carolina: At No. 18 Oklahoma on Saturday, Oct. 19.
Alabama: At No. 8 Tennessee on Saturday, Oct. 19.
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