Latest local news, weather and high school sports from the Midlands

COLUMBIA, S.C. - Auburn's Philip Lutzenkirchen hauled in a 9-yard touchdown pass fromBarrett Trotter with 1:38 left in the fourth quarter to lift the Tigers to a 16-13 victory over No. 10/9 South Carolina on Saturday at Williams-Brice Stadium.

The Gamecocks attempted to drive the field for a game-tying field goal after Auburn’s go-ahead touchdown, but time expired after Stephen Garcia completed a 12-yard pass to Bruce Ellington down to the Auburn 30-yard line.

"We’re not heartbroken," South Carolina head coach Steve Spurrier said. "We haven’t played well enough to expect to win. We lost to this team last year and still came back and won the Eastern Division. If we can regroup somehow offensively, we’re going to be okay."

With the loss, South Carolina falls to 4-1 on the season and 2-1 in the SEC. Auburn improves to 4-1 overall and 2-0 in conference play.

South Carolina led for a majority of the second half after sophomore running back Marcus Lattimore’s 15-yard touchdown run at the 5:58 mark of the third quarter gave the Gamecocks a 13-9 lead.

But the Tigers, who ran 92 plays on offense and held the ball for nearly 36 minutes, used a 12-play, 57-yard scoring drive capped by Lutzenkirchen’s 9-yard touchdown reception to win the game.

Lattimore finished with 66 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries. With the score, Lattimore moved to No. 3 on South Carolina’s career touchdowns list with 29 and into a tie for fifth on the career rushing touchdowns list with 26. Alshon Jeffery grabbed five passes for 86 yards and a score for the Gamecocks, while Garcia connected on 9-of-23 pass attempts for 160 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions.

Sophomore running back Michael Dyer had a stellar performance to lead Auburn, rushing for a game-high 141 yards and a touchdown on a school-record 41 carries. Onterio McCalebb and Kiehl Frazier added 58 and 48 yards on the ground, respectively. Trotter was 12-of-23 for 112 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions.

The defenses combined to force eight turnovers in the contest. Senior Spur Antonio Allen recorded 13 stops, including three for a loss, and one interception for the Gamecocks, while Melvin Ingram tallied 11 tackles, 3.5 sacks and an interception. Ingram is now the SEC’s active career leader in sacks and is No. 4 on South Carolina’s all-time sacks list. Reginald Bowens also had 11 tackles for South Carolina.

"Our defensive team had a heck of a game, but (Auburn) made some third downs on us there at the end," Spurrier said. "Give Auburn credit. They played pretty well."

Demetruce McNeal finished with eight tackles and an interception to lead Auburn.

The Gamecocks return to action on Saturday, Oct. 8 at home against Kentucky. Kickoff is set for 12:21 p.m. at Williams-Brice Stadium.