S. Carolina Takes Capital One Bowl 34-24 Over Wisconsin
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Connor Shaw was responsible for five touchdowns, including three passing, and No. 8 South Carolina outlasted No. 19 Wisconsin 34-24 in the Capital One Bowl on Wednesday.
The Gamecocks' senior was named the game's MVP after picking apart the Badgers defense, completing 22 of 25 passes for 312 yards. Shaw also had rushing and receiving scores.
South Carolina (11-2) won its third straight bowl game to cap its third straight 11-win season.
Bruce Ellington caught six passes for 140 yards and two touchdowns.
The Badgers (9-4) lost their fourth straight bowl game, failing to capitalize on 100-yard rushing games from both Melvin Gordon and James White, and struggling after quarterback Joel Stave left in the third quarter with a shoulder injury.
Backup Curt Phillips was intercepted twice.
While the Gamecocks struggled to contain the Badgers rushing attack for most of the game, Shaw and Ellington did plenty to keep South Carolina productive on offense.
Trailing 17-13 in the third quarter, Ellington reeled in a juggling reception near the sideline on a fourth-and-7 play. Then, two plays later Shaw found Ellington for 22-yard touchdown strike to put the Gamecocks up by three.
The Badgers lost Stave on the next series, and with Phillips taking over, were stopped short on fourth down run inside the Gamecocks 30.
South Carolina took advantage, and needed just six plays for Shaw to find Jerrell Adams for a 3-yard touchdown that made it 27-17 with 11:05 to play in the game.
Wisconsin wasn't done. Kenzel Doe took the ensuing kickoff and ran it back 91 yards for a score to get the Badgers back within a field goal.
But then Shaw went back to work.
Pinned inside his own 15 to start the drive, he used a combination of runs and passes to set up his 1-yard touchdown plunge to cap a nine-play, 81-yard drive that made it 34-24.
Wisconsin appeared to be done after Phillips was intercepted by Kaiwan Lewis with less than five minutes to play. But the Gamecocks gave it right back on a Brandon Wilds fumble on the next series.
The Badgers picked up a few first downs, but then Phillips was intercepted again by Skai Moore with 3:14 left to end the threat.
Wisconsin got the ball back one more time, but Gordon fumbled inside the South Carolina 20 to help the Gamecocks secure the win.
Wisconsin led 14-13 at the half, scoring on a pair of touchdown passes by Stave.
But the Badgers did most of their damage on the ground, piling up 159 rushing yards and 7.2 yards per carry in the opening 30 minutes.
Both drives were over 70 yards against a South Carolina defense that entered the game ranked second in the Southeastern Conference, giving up just 142 yards per game.
Jadeveon Clowney had four tackles in the half, including one for a loss. But he was mostly a non-factor early as the Badgers alternated White and Gordon in the backfield.
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