2002 Outback Bowl

January 1, 2002 • Tampa Bay, Florida • 66,249 Attendance

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final
South Carolina	0	14	14	3	31
Ohio State	0	0	7	21	28

Daniel Weaver's 42-yard field goal on the final play of the game gave South Carolina its second-consecutive Outback Bowl victory, 31-28. USC finished the season with a 9-3 record, which marked only the second time in school history that the school recorded more than eight wins in a season (1984; 10-2).

For the first time in school history, USC won consecutive bowl games and its final national ranking of No. 13 was the program's highest since 1984.

USC thwarted a 28-point Ohio State second-half comeback after dominating the first three quarters. Andrew Pinnock ran for 49 yards on 12 carries and scored two touchdowns for the Gamecocks. Brian Scott had seven receptions for 83 yards and scored his seventh career touchdown on a seven-yard strike from Phil Petty. Andrea Gause scored on a 50-yard bomb from Petty in the third quarter.

Petty was named the MVP as he completed 19-of-37 attempts for 227 yards and two TDs.

With less than 30 seconds left in the game, USC's Sheldon Brown picked off a Steve Bellisari pass to end a potential OSU drive and raced 37 yards to the Ohio State 29-yard line.

Ohio State did not get on the board until the last play of the third quarter, and rallied to tie the contest at 28 with just less than two minutes to play.

Scoring Summary

2nd Quarter
USC Pinnock 1-yard run (Weaver kick) (8 plays, 36 yards, TOP 3:49); 12:37
USC Scott 7-yard pass from Petty (Weaver kick) (9 plays, 63 yards, TOP 4:07); 6:54

3rd Quarter
USC Gause 50-yard pass from Petty (kick failed) (6 plays, 78 yards, TOP 2:04); 12:56
USC Pinnock 10-yard run (Watson pass) (12 plays, 93 yards, TOP 5:41); 5:38
OSU Bellisari 2-yard run (Nugent kick) (12 plays, 77 yars, TOP 5:38); 0:00

4th Quarter
OSU Sanders 16-yard pass from Bellisari (Nugent kick) (7 plays, 59 yards, TOP 1:54); 10:18
OSU Wells 1-yard run (Nugent kick) (3 plays, 23 yards, TOP 0:39); 5:02
OSU Sanders 9-yard pass from Bellisari (Nugent kick), (7 plays, 89 yards, TOP 2:02); 1:54
USC Weaver 42-yard field goal (4 plays, 4 yards, TOP 0:23); 0:00

Game Statistics

	USC	OSU
First Downs	17	21
Net Yards Rushing	120	64
Rushing Attempts	36	35
Net Yards Passing	227	324
Cmp.-Att.-Int.	19-37-1	22-37-1
Total Offense Yards	347	388
Total Offense Plays	73	72
Fumbles: No.-Lost	0-0	0-0
Penalties: No.-Yards	8-43	6-40
Punts: No.-Yards	6-286	5-233
Punt Average	47.7	44.6
Possession Time	31:23	28:37
Sacks By: No.-Yards	3-24	3-21