# 2015 South Carolina Gamecocks football team

The 2015 South Carolina Gamecocks football team represented the University of South Carolina in the 2015 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Gamecocks competed as a member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) as part of its East Division. The team was led by head coach Steve Spurrier, who was in his eleventh year before his resignation on October 12, 2015, after a 2–4 start. Co-offensive coordinator Shawn Elliott took over as interim head coach. They played six home games at Williams–Brice Stadium in Columbia, South Carolina and one home game at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. They finished the season 3–9, 1–7 in SEC play to finish in seventh place in the East division.
The Gamecocks had their first losing season since 2003 and their worst record since 1999. The upset by The Citadel was the first time an SEC team had lost to an FCS team since 2013. It was South Carolina's first loss to a FCS team since 1990, and it remains the most recent. The Gamecocks' loss to archrival No. 1 Clemson was the second in a row, and the first in Williams–Brice Stadium since 2007.

## Schedule

South Carolina announced their 2015 football schedule on October 14, 2014. The 2015 schedule consisted of 7 home games, 4 away games and 1 neutral game in the regular season. The Gamecocks hosted SEC foes Florida, Kentucky, LSU, and Vanderbilt, and traveled to Georgia, Missouri, Tennessee, and Texas A&M.
The Gamecocks hosted three of the four non–conference play against UCF, the Citadel and in-state rival Clemson. South Carolina traveled to play North Carolina at a neutral site in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Gamecocks traveled to College Station, Texas, for the first time ever on Halloween. They were set to host LSU at home but the contest was relocated to Baton Rouge as a consequence of severe flooding in Columbia, South Carolina. On October 13, 2015, Steve Spurrier officially announced his resignation as head football coach, and co-offensive coordinator Shawn Elliott was named interim head coach for the remaining games of the season.
| Date | Time | Opponent | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 3 | 6:00 p.m. | vs. North Carolina* | Bank of America StadiumCharlotte, NC (Belk Kickoff Game/Battle of the Carolinas) | ESPN | W 17–13 | 51,664 |
| September 12 | 7:30 p.m. | Kentucky | Williams-Brice StadiumColumbia, SC | SECN | L 22–26 | 82,178 |
| September 19 | 6:00 p.m. | at No. 7 Georgia | Sanford StadiumAthens, GA (rivalry) | ESPN | L 20–52 | 92,746 |
| September 26 | Noon | UCF* | Williams-Brice StadiumColumbia, SC | ESPNU | W 31–14 | 78,411 |
| October 3 | Noon | at Missouri | Faurot FieldColumbia, MO | SECN | L 10–24 ‡ | 66,751 |
| October 10 | 3:30 p.m. | No. 7 LSU | Tiger StadiumBaton Rouge, LA | ESPN | L 24–45 | 42,058 |
| October 17 | 4:00 p.m. | Vanderbilt | Williams-Brice StadiumColumbia, SC | SECN | W 19–10 | 75,159 |
| October 31 | Noon | at Texas A&M | Kyle FieldCollege Station, TX | SECN | L 28–35 | 102,154 |
| November 7 | 4:00 p.m. | at Tennessee | Neyland StadiumKnoxville, TN (rivalry) | SECN | L 24–27 | 101,253 |
| November 14 | Noon | No. 11 Florida | Williams-Brice StadiumColumbia, SC | ESPN | L 14–24 | 78,536 |
| November 21 | Noon | No. 25 (FCS) The Citadel* | Williams-Brice StadiumColumbia, SC (SEC Nation) | SECN | L 22–23 | 77,241 |
| November 28 | Noon | No. 1 Clemson* | Williams-Brice StadiumColumbia, SC (Palmetto Bowl) | ESPN | L 32–37 | 81,409 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from AP Poll released prior to gameAll times are in Eastern time |||||||
    Schedule Source:
‡ As part of their penalty for NCAA violations, Missouri has retroactively vacated its 2015 victory over South Carolina. However, the penalty to vacate victories does not result in a loss (or forfeiture) of the affected game or award a victory to the opponent, therefore South Carolina still considers the game a loss in their official records.

## Season summary
### at LSU

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Gamecocks | 3 | 7 | 14 | 0 | 24 |
| No. 7 Tigers | 7 | 10 | 21 | 7 | 45 |
at Tiger Stadium • Baton Rouge, Louisiana
* Date: October 10, 2015
* Game time: 3:30 p.m. EST
* Game attendance: 43,101
Game information :
First Quarter
SC – Elliott Fry 21 Yd Field Goal, 11:02. South Carolina 3–0. Drive: 13 plays, 62 yards, 3:58.
LSU – Darrel Williams 4 Yd Run (Trent Domingue Kick), 5:15. LSU 7–3. Drive: 3 plays, 75 yards, 5:47.
Second Quarter
LSU – Malachi Dupre 10 Yd pass from Brandon Harris (Trent Domingue Kick), 7:41. LSU 14–3. Drive: 11 plays, 67 yards, 5:42.
SC – Rashad Fenton 96 Yd Kickoff Return (Elliott Fry Kick), 7:27. LSU 14–10. Driver: 0 plays, 0 yards, 0:00.
LSU – Trent Domingue 29 Yd Field Goal, 0:00. LSU 17–10. Drive: 10 plays, 54 yards, 1:19.
Third Quarter
LSU – Leonard Fournette 87 Yd Run (Trent Domingue Kick), 14:01. LSU 24–10. Drive: 2 plays, 90 yards, 0:51.
LSU – Travin Dural 62 Yd pass from Brandon Harris (Trent Domingue Kick), 6:29. LSU 31–10. Drive: 10 plays, 80 yards, 6:11.
SC – Jerell Adams 36 Yd pass from Perry Orth (Elliott Fry Kick), 5:02. LSU 31–17. Driver: 5 plays, 60 yards, 1:21.
LSU – Darrel Williams 1 Yd Run (Trent Domingue Kick), 1:55. LSU 38–17. Drive: 6 plays, 75 yards, 3:07.
SC – Pharoh Cooper 43 Yd pass from Perry Orth (Elliott Fry Kick), 0:39. LSU 38–24. Driver: 3 plays, 61 yards, 1:14.
Fourth Quarter
LSU – Derrius Guice 4 Yd Run (Trent Domingue Kick), 13:15. LSU 45–24. Drive: 6 plays, 67 yards, 2:13.
Top Passers
SC − Perry Orth – 14/28, 200 yds, 2 TD, 1 INT
LSU − Brandon Harris – 18/28, 228 yds, 2 TD
Top Rushers
SC − Shon Carson – 16 carries, 26 yds
LSU − Derrius Guice – 16 carries, 161 yds, 1 TD
Top Receiving
SC − Pharoh Cooper – 7 receptions, 105 yds, 1 TD
LSU − Travin Dural – 4 reception, 109 yds, 1 TD :

### Florida

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Florida | 7 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 24 |
| South Carolina | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 14 |
at Williams-Brice Stadium, Columbia, South Carolina
* Date: November 14, 2015
* Game time: 12:01 p.m. EST
* Game weather: Sunny • 53 °F (12 °C) • Wind Variable
* Game attendance: 78,536
* Referee: David Smith
* TV announcers (ESPN): Mike Patrick and Ed Cunningham
* Boxscore
Game information :
First quarter
FLA – Jordan Cronkrite 3-yard run (Austin Hardin kick), 1:50. Florida 7–0. Drive: 15 plays, 87 yards, 6:38.
Second quarter
FLA – Jordan Cronkrite 41-yard pass from Treon Harris (Austin Hardin kick), 8:17. Florida 14–0. Drive: 12 plays, 76 yards, 7:11.
Third quarter
FLA – Austin Hardin 39-yard field goal, 4:50. Florida 17–0. Drive: 12 plays, 70 yards, 6:20.
Fourth quarter
SCAR – Perry Orth 17-yard pass from Pharoh Cooper (Elliott Fry kick), 8:59. Florida 17–7. Drive: 8 plays, 64 yards, 3:17.
SCAR – Pharoh Cooper 38-yard pass from Perry Orth (Elliott Fry kick), 4:49. Florida 17–14. Drive: 5 plays, 79 yards, 1:58.
FLA – Kelvin Taylor 1-yard run (Austin Hardin kick), 2:01. Florida 24–14. Drive: 6 plays, 75 yards, 2:48.
Top passers
FLA – Treon Harris – 19/33, 256 yards, TD, 2 INT
SCAR – Perry Orth – 13/24, 163 yards, TD, 2 INT
Top rushers
FLA – Kelvin Taylor – 20 rushes, 105 yards, TD
SCAR – Pharoh Cooper – 3 rushes, 16 yards
Top receivers
FLA – Antonio Callaway – 5 receptions, 60 yards
SCAR – Jerell Adams – 4 receptions, 46 yards :