Alabama overcomes a botched onside kick and beats South Carolina

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama was on the verge of a second straight upset loss in the Southeastern Conference.

This time the Crimson Tide survived, albeit just 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 came within 27-25 -Victory of it.

It was Alabama’s third straight game that came down to the wire after defeating then-No. 2 Georgia 41-34 a week before they lost 40-35 to Vanderbilt.

“One more game to go,” Tide coach Kalen DeBoer said. “We’re slowly getting used to it. There are a few things we can do to make sure it doesn’t come to that. But we always talk about finding a way to win. As many times as it seemed like we were. “No, we did.

With 43 seconds left, Sellers hit Nyck Harbor for a 31-yard touchdown, but the Gamecocks (3-2, 1-3) failed to convert their two-point attempt. They recovered the ensuing onside kick, but with 13 seconds left, Sellers’ desperate attempt to lunge toward the end zone was intercepted at the goal line by Jackson.

“We expected to win this game,” South Carolina coach Shane Beamer said. “No one came here at halftime and threw a punch because we had a close game with Alabama. We expected that because we have a good football team. Life at 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 victory they were hoping for.

“It’s not the ‘W’ 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 in which he was intercepted twice and flagged for a safety for intentional grounding on a sack in the end zone. Facing third-and-10, he found Bernard downfield without a defender anywhere nearby with 1:54 left to cap a 10-play drive.

“There were a lot of safe routes and things that we talked about in this game and I think they aggressively tried to play a lot of them,” DeBoer said. “There was a deeper path and I love that Jalen saw it.”

Milroe was 16 of 23 passing for 209 yards with one touchdown and two rushing scores. Sellers was 23 of 31 for 238 yards with two touchdowns and was the final pick.

The Gamecocks entered the fourth quarter with a lead and had a chance to take it back. But Alex Herrera’s career-long 51-yard field goal attempt came up short.

Milroe capitalized on a Sellers fumble with his 7-yard touchdown run with 10:42 left, but the two-point pass failed, making it 20:19.

He ended up being relegated to a cheerleader on the field with the defense, just like he did against Vandy and Georgia.

“When we talk about the team, this is a great example of how as a group you just find a way to cheer on everyone that’s on the field and everyone just participates,” Milroe said.

Alabama’s 14-0 lead was cut to two in the final 1:37 before halftime due to a series of big plays by South Carolina and the Tide break. That included a safety, turnovers by both teams 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 hung in there,” Beamer said.