OUTBACK BOWL

Spurrier’s 1-2 QB punch delivers

South Carolina defensive end Jadeveon Clowney (7) talks to Coach Steve Spurrier following the No. 10 Gamecocks’ 33-28 victory over the No. 18 Michigan Wolverines on Tuesday at the Outback Bowl in Tampa, Fla.
South Carolina defensive end Jadeveon Clowney (7) talks to Coach Steve Spurrier following the No. 10 Gamecocks’ 33-28 victory over the No. 18 Michigan Wolverines on Tuesday at the Outback Bowl in Tampa, Fla.

— Steve Spurrier’s plan to use two quarterbacks in the Outback Bowl worked so well that Dylan Thompson and Connor Shaw both earned game balls.

That’s a first for Spurrier, who has a well-known penchant for benching struggling quarterbacks. In this case, the Gamecocks’ winningest coach switched passers by design.

Shaw began Tuesday’s 33-28 victory over No. 18 Michigan with a 56-yard touchdown pass to Damiere Byrd. Thompson closed it out by throwing a 32-yard touchdown pass to Bruce Ellington in the final minute to help No. 10 South Carolina match the school record for victories in a season.

“I don’t know if I’ve ever given two quarterbacks a game ball, but today I said: ‘Hey, we’ve got to give them to both you guys,’ ” Spurrier said.

“Both those young men are just so super team-oriented. There’s no jealousy, nothing. ... Those guys are just really, really good teammates. Wonderful team players. We tried to tell Connor: ‘It’s your game.’ And it was his game, but Dylan was going to play. He understood that. It worked beautifully as it turned out.”

Thompson replaced Shaw during the winning drive, covering the final 43 yards after Shaw began the drive from his 30 and kept it alive with a 6-yard completion to Ace Sanders on a fourth-and-3 play. Devin Gardner’s third touchdown pass of the game had given Michigan a 28-27 lead.

“I wasn’t nervous. I knew I had great guys around me, and I trusted them and just was confident,” Thompson said.

Shaw threw for 227 yards and two touchdowns after missing the Gamecocks’ regular-season finale with a left foot sprain. Thompson led the Gamecocks (11-2) to a victory at archrival Clemson, and threw for 117 yards and two touchdowns in the bowl.

Gardner threw for 214 yards in his fifth start for Michigan (8-5) since Denard Robinson injured his right elbow late in the season. Robinson took some snaps at quarterback and even attempted his first passes in a game since Oct. 27, but lined up mostly at running back and rushed for 100 yards on 23 carries.

Sanders caught touchdown passes of 4 yards from Thompson and 31 yards from Shaw, who completed 18 of 26 passes before aggravating his foot injury and limping off during the final drive. The speedy receiver had nine catches for 92 yards and also scored on a 63-yard punt return — one of four plays over 50 yards yielded by Michigan.

Gardner was 18 of 36, including touchdown passes of 5 yards to Drew Dileo and 10 and 17 yards to Jeremy Gallon, who gave Michigan its late lead and finished with career bests of nine receptions and 145 yards. Robinson set the NCAA record for career yards rushing by a quarterback, improving his four-year total to 4,495 — 15 more than West Virginia’s Pat White ran for from 2005-08.

“I’d rather win the game,” said Robinson, who attempted two passes in the third quarter, both incompletions, and also ran twice on plays in which he took the snap as the quarterback — a role he’s embraced since being injured during a loss to Nebraska.

“It was just what I thought it was going to be,” Robinson said. “I tried to make the most of it.”

South Carolina defensive end Jadeveon Clowney was quiet for much of the day, but shifted momentum in the fourth quarter with a big hit on Vincent Smith that sent the running back’s helmet rolling several yards backward and caused a fumble that the SEC Defensive Player of the Year recovered to set up Shaw’s touchdown pass to Sanders for a 27-22 lead.

The touchdown capped a three-play sequence that began with Michigan running its second fake punt of the game, gaining 4 yards to the Wolverines 41 for what was ruled a first down, despite not appearing be one when the officials called for a measurement. South Carolina challenged the spot, but the ruling on the field was upheld.

Clowney then slammed into Smith just as the Michigan runner was taking the handoff from Gardner, jarring the ball loose.

“I asked one of those other refs there. I said, ‘You know the ball did not touch the first-down marker.’ He said, ‘I know it didn’t.’ I said, ‘Well, why did he give it to them?’ and he said, ‘I don’t know,’ ” Spurrier said.

“Clowney knocked the ball out the next play, so I’m glad they gave it to them. ... We gained about 10 or 15 yards.”

GATOR BOWL

Wildcats shed skid

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The stuffed monkey spent the last year in storage, out of sight but still in everyone’s mind.

Coach Pat Fitzgerald dusted it off for the Gator Bowl and even had it on the sideline Tuesday as a reminder of Northwestern’s decades-long, bowl losing streak — the ol’ monkey on their backs.

Now, it’s in pieces.

Behind huge interceptions early and late, No. 20 Northwestern beat Mississippi State 34-20 and snapped college football’s longest postseason losing streak. The Wildcats (10-3) hadn’t won a bowl game since 1949, a ninegame skid that was tied with Notre Dame for the longest in NCAA history.

It’s history now. And as a reward, Fitzgerald let his players rip the monkey to shreds in the locker room.

“We’ve never been here before, but now we’re here and here to stay with a new streak you can talk about in a positive fashion,” Fitzgerald said.

Quentin Williams returned an interception 29 yards for a touchdown on the third play of the game and Nick VanHoose set up another touchdown with a 39-yard interception return in the fourth. Those plays were the difference in a back-andforth game that featured more interceptions (seven) than touchdowns (six).

In between, Northwestern’s two-quarterback system kept the Bulldogs (8-5) off balance most of the day.

Scrambler Kain Colter ran for 71 yards, making up for his two interceptions. Backup Trevor Siemian threw for 120 yards and an interception, and also ran for a score.

Even with the turnovers, they were more efficient than Mississippi State’s Tyler Russell.

Russell completed 12 of 28 passes for 106 yards, with 2 touchdowns and 4 interceptions. He had only thrown six interceptions in the first 11 games this season.

Sports, Pages 18 on 01/02/2013

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