The South Carolina football team had quite an eventful Saturday afternoon, with a historic collapse and a bizarre incident between a state trooper and a group of Gamecock players dominating the headlines.
Although later on in the day, the big story would be blowing a 30-3 halftime lead, amidst their first-half shellacking of Texas A&M, the Gamecocks' Nyck Harbor was bumped by a Texas state trooper, who then pointed at and appeared to yell something at Harbor.
The bump came moments after Harbor caught an 80-yard touchdown pass, which put South Carolina up 26-3 late in the second quarter. Harbor slowly jogged up a tunnel behind the end zone after scoring while grabbing at his hamstring, and several Gamecocks followed him in celebration. As they made their way back to the field, though, a trooper walked in between Harbor and running back Oscar Adaway III, both of whom he appeared to bump shoulders forcibly. The trooper then turned back and pointed and said something to Harbor, who turned back before continuing to walk toward the sideline with Adaway.
After the game, a one-point loss, South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer said he was not aware of the incident but expressed gratitude for Texas A&M, which reportedly relieved the trooper of gameday duties immediately.
“That’s good to know. I would hope so,” Beamer said [h/t On3's Barkley Truax]. “I did not see that. Wasn’t aware of that. Got a ton of respect for the people here in College Station. It’s a first-class operation, everybody, from a game operation standpoint. They do a great job and are first-class people, so appreciate them handling that the right way and sending him home.”
Fortunately, the incident did not escalate past that, but unfortunately for Beamer and the Gamecocks, it was overshadowed by what is one of the worst losses in program history.
Up by 27 at the half on the third-ranked team in the country on the road, South Carolina was outscored 28-0 in the second half, and, with a chance to drive down the field and win the game, preseason Heisman candidate LaNorris Sellers took two costly sacks before failing to throw the ball on the Gamecocks' final offensive play.
The loss drops South Carolina to 3-7 on the season and 1-7 in the SEC; since a win vs. Kentucky on Sept. 27, the Gamecocks have lost five straight.
