October 24, 2020 Week 8 · Regular Season Belt changed hands

LSU takes the belt, 52–24, at home over South Carolina.

Home · New Holder

LSU 52

Away · Defending Holder

South Carolina 24

Belt context

Where this game sits in the lineage

LSU took the belt here, ending South Carolina’s run of 7 days and 0 defenses (reign #312) and starting reign #313. It lasted 7 days and 0 defenses, until Auburn took it on October 31, 2020.

For LSU this was its 19th shot at the belt; it had held the belt 7 times before — and it took it back here.

It was the 2nd of 2 belt games between the two; going in, LSU led the belt series 1–0; all-time LSU leads 2–0.

AI-Written

Recap

LSU dominated South Carolina to claim the College Football Belt with a convincing 52-24 victory, controlling the game through efficient offensive execution and timely defensive plays. The Tigers struck first with TJ Finley's 1-yard touchdown run, but South Carolina answered immediately with Kevin Harris's 45-yard touchdown scamper to tie the game early. LSU took control in the second quarter, with Finley connecting on touchdown passes to Terrace Marshall Jr. on back-to-back scoring drives, while a Marshall interception return for a touchdown by Eli Ricks essentially put the game away before halftime. South Carolina mounted a brief third-quarter comeback with Harris scoring again on a 1-yard run, but LSU's defense and fourth-quarter execution proved insurmountable as the Tigers' balanced attack wore down the Gamecocks' defense.

TJ Finley's first-quarter 1-yard TD run gave LSU an early lead and established the offensive tone
Eli Ricks's 45-yard interception return for a TD in the second quarter essentially decided the game
Kevin Harris's two rushing touchdowns kept South Carolina competitive but couldn't overcome LSU's defensive pressure
LSU's 8-10 third-down conversion rate versus South Carolina's 3-10 highlighted the decisive difference in execution

Written by Claude from the box score and play-by-play on this page — a plain-English recap of the numbers below, not a substitute for them.

Full Box Score

Team stats

CFBD box score

LSUSouth Carolina

Total yards542403

Rushing yards277169

Passing yards265234

First downs3017

3rd down conv.8/103/10

Turnovers11

Penalties–yards10–797–55

Time of possession36:3222:26

Full team box score from CFBD’s /games/teams data. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have team-level stats that far back.

Play By Play

Key plays

CFBD play-by-play

When	Team	Yards	Play
Q1 14:55	South Carolina	+25 yd	Mitch Jeter kickoff for 65 yds , Trey Palmer return for 25 yds to the LSU 25
Q1 7:34	LSU	+1 yd	TJ Finley run for 1 yd for a TD (Cade York KICK)
Q1 7:25	South Carolina	+36 yd	Collin Hill pass complete to Shi Smith for 36 yds to the LSU 39 for a 1ST down
Q1 6:40	South Carolina	+45 yd	Kevin Harris run for 45 yds for a TD (Parker White KICK)
Q1 5:09	LSU	+26 yd	TJ Finley pass complete to Jaray Jenkins for 26 yds to the SCaro 33 for a 1ST down
Q1 2:05	LSU	+27 yd	Cade York 27 yd FG GOOD
Q2 11:14	LSU	+7 yd	TJ Finley pass complete to Terrace Marshall Jr. for 7 yds for a TD (Cade York KICK)
Q2 11:05	South Carolina	+44 yd	Collin Hill pass complete to Keveon Mullins for 44 yds to the LSU 31 for a 1ST down
Q2 7:58	South Carolina	+54 yd	Parker White 54 yd FG MISSED
Q2 6:47	LSU	+56 yd	TJ Finley pass intercepted Israel Mukuamu return for 56 yds to the LSU 34
Q2 7:14	LSU	+36 yd	TJ Finley pass complete to Jaray Jenkins for 36 yds to the SCaro 29 for a 1ST down
Q2 5:22	South Carolina	+45 yd	Parker White 45 yd FG GOOD
Q2 3:43	LSU	+51 yd	TJ Finley pass complete to Terrace Marshall Jr. for 51 yds for a TD (Cade York KICK)
Q2 2:43	South Carolina	+45 yd	Collin Hill pass intercepted for a TD Eli Ricks return for 45 yds for a TD (Cade York KICK)
Q2 2:33	South Carolina	+21 yd	Deshaun Fenwick run for 21 yds to the LSU 37 for a 1ST down
Q2 1:22	South Carolina	+34 yd	Parker White 34 yd FG MISSED
Q3 13:34	South Carolina	+49 yd	Kevin Harris run for 49 yds to the LSU 14 for a 1ST down
Q3 11:17	South Carolina	+1 yd	Kevin Harris run for 1 yd for a TD (Parker White KICK)
Q3 11:00	South Carolina	+93 yd	Mitch Jeter kickoff for 58 yds , Trey Palmer return for 93 yds for a TD York, Cade kick attempt good, PENALTY LSU false start (Turner, Charles) 5 yards to the SOCAROLINA8, NO PLAY. (Cade York KICK)
Q3 10:51	South Carolina	+57 yd	Collin Hill pass complete to Keveon Mullins for 57 yds to the LSU 18 for a 1ST down
Q3 8:25	South Carolina	+40 yd	Parker White 40 yd FG MISSED
Q3 4:12	LSU	+4 yd	Tyrion Davis-Price run for 4 yds for a TD (Cade York KICK)
Q3 6:25	LSU	-3 yd	Tyrion Davis-Price run for a loss of 3 yards to the LSU 45 Tyrion Davis-Price fumbled, recovered by LSU Tyrion Davis-Price
Q3 4:53	LSU	+35 yd	Tyrion Davis-Price run for 35 yds to the SCaro 4 for a 1ST down
Q4 13:20	LSU	+21 yd	TJ Finley pass complete to Arik Gilbert for 21 yds to the SCaro 30 for a 1ST down
Q4 9:44	LSU	+3 yd	John Emery Jr. run for 3 yds for a TD (Cade York KICK)
Q4 7:39	South Carolina	+5 yd	Collin Hill pass complete to Josh Vann for 5 yds for a TD (Parker White KICK)
Q4 9:35	South Carolina	+32 yd	Collin Hill pass complete to Shi Smith for 32 yds to the LSU 43 for a 1ST down
Q4 3:23	LSU	+24 yd	Tyrion Davis-Price run for 24 yds to the SCaro 30 for a 1ST down

Scoring plays, turnovers, and gains of 20+ yards, pulled from CFBD’s play-by-play. This section only appears for belt games with play-by-play on file (2003 onward).

Box Score

Player stats

CFBD player stats

Passing

LSU

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT
TJ Finley	17/21	265	12.6	2	1

South Carolina

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT
Collin Hill	12/22	234	10.6	1	1

Rushing

LSU

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Tyrion Davis-Price	22	135	6.1	1	35
John Emery Jr.	18	88	4.9	1	14
TJ Finley	8	24	3.0	1	9
Max Johnson	2	19	9.5	0	12
Chris Curry	3	11	3.7	0	6

South Carolina

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Kevin Harris	12	126	10.5	2	49
Deshaun Fenwick	7	49	7.0	0	21
Luke Doty	1	6	6.0	0	6
Shi Smith	1	4	4.0	0	4
Collin Hill	8	-16	-2.0	0	5

Receiving

LSU

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Terrace Marshall Jr.	6	88	14.7	2	51
Jaray Jenkins	3	76	25.3	0	36
Koy Moore	3	34	11.3	0	14
Arik Gilbert	2	27	13.5	0	21
Jontre Kirklin	2	21	10.5	0	11
Kayshon Boutte	1	19	19.0	0	19

South Carolina

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Keveon Mullins	2	101	50.5	0	57
Shi Smith	2	68	34.0	0	36
Deshaun Fenwick	2	19	9.5	0	10
Nick Muse	1	17	17.0	0	17
Kevin Harris	2	13	6.5	0	14
Dakereon Joyner	1	8	8.0	0	8
Josh Vann	1	5	5.0	1	5
Jalen Brooks	1	3	3.0	0	3

Show more stats (6 more categories)

Defense

LSU

Player	TOT	SOLO	SACKS	TFL	PD	QB HUR	TD
Jabril Cox	7	3	0	0.5	0	0	0
JaCoby Stevens	7	2	0.5	1	0	0	0
Micah Baskerville	6	2	0	0.5	0	0	0
Damone Clark	6	2	0	0	0	1	0
BJ Ojulari	4	4	3	3	0	1	0
Eli Ricks	3	1	0	0.5	0	0	1
Cordale Flott	3	1	0	0	0	0	0
Glen Logan	2	2	0	0	0	0	0
Maurice Hampton Jr.	2	2	0	0	0	0	0
Cameron Lewis	2	1	0	0	0	0	0
Derek Stingley Jr.	2	1	0	0	1	0	0
Siaki Ika	2	1	0	0	0	0	0
Joseph Evans	2	0	0.5	0.5	0	0	0
Andre Anthony	1	1	1	1	0	0	0
Todd Harris Jr.	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
Ali Gaye	1	1	0	0	2	0	0
TJ Finley	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
Tory Carter	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Evan Francioni	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Trey Palmer	0	0	0	0	0	0	1

South Carolina

Player	TOT	SOLO	TFL
Ernest Jones	19	8	0.5
Jammie Robinson	12	4	0
Jahmar Brown	6	3	0
Jordan Burch	5	2	0.5
Jaylin Dickerson	5	1	0
Damani Staley	5	1	0
Zacch Pickens	5	1	0
R.J. Roderick	4	3	0
Shilo Sanders	4	3	0
John Dixon	4	3	0
Keir Thomas	4	1	0
Kingsley Enagbare	4	0	0
Jaycee Horn	3	1	0
M.J. Webb	3	0	0
Tonka Hemingway	2	2	1
Aaron Sterling	2	1	0
Brad Johnson	2	0	0
Zaquandre White	1	0	0
Jabari Ellis	1	0	0
Israel Mukuamu	1	0	0

Fumbles

LSU

Player	FUM	LOST	REC
Tyrion Davis-Price	1	0	0

South Carolina

No recorded stats in this category.

Interceptions

LSU

Player	INT	YDS	TD
Eli Ricks	1	45	1

South Carolina

Player	INT	YDS	TD
Israel Mukuamu	1	56	0

Kick Returns

LSU

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Trey Palmer	2	118	59.0	93	1

South Carolina

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Dakereon Joyner	1	17	17.0	17	0

Kicking

LSU

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Cade York	1/1	100.0	27	7/7	10

South Carolina

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Parker White	1/4	25.0	45	3/3	6

Punting

LSU

No recorded stats in this category.

South Carolina

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Kai Kroeger	1	50	50.0	0	0	50

Full player stats from CFBD’s /games/players data, split out by team. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have player-level stats that far back. Linked player names go to that player’s stat line in every other belt game they’ve appeared in.

Sources Box score at ESPN · Game record: College Football Data (id 401237118) · This game in the downloadable dataset

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