South Carolina vs. Auburn: Score and Twitter Reaction

In a shootout between a pair of offensive juggernauts led by Gus Malzahn and Steve Spurrier, the Auburn Tigers held off a furious test from the South Carolina Gamecocks and prevailed 42-35 at home.

The Gamecocks held the lead three different times in the first half, but Auburn answered quickly every time. Both offenses proved unstoppable with each surpassing 530 total yards, but an early fourth-quarter Nick Marshall touchdown run and timely defense late made the difference for Auburn.

Marshall didn't light the stat sheet on fire but was efficient, going 12-of-14 with 139 yards and four total touchdowns. Three came on the ground, as he rushed 10 times for 89 yards to overcome 402 yards and five touchdowns from South Carolina quarterback Dylan Thompson.

Here's a look at the final box score:

Team	1	2	3	4	Final
South Carolina	7	14	14	0	35
Auburn	7	14	14	7	42

Auburn entered Saturday's game fresh off a bye week and looking to bounce back from its first loss of 2014 two weeks prior against Mississippi State. But despite going up against a struggling South Carolina squad with three losses, the Tigers knew they wouldn't be the only team with a potent offense.

"They don't have a weakness on offense," Tigers defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson told AL.com's Joel A. Erickson. "They're good up front, they're a good receiver corp, excellent tight end grouping, three running backs that can play for anybody and the quarterback is a fifth-year guy who knows the offense in-and-out, coaches' son, great young man."

The Gamecocks offense wasted no time torching Auburn early on. They took some early momentum on the game's opening drive, going 75 yards in seven plays as Thompson hit Shaq Roland for a 32-yard score.

South Carolina threatened to take a two-score lead the next time it got the ball, but Cassanova McKinzy snagged a red-zone interception. And like it's wired to do, Auburn's offense pounded its way down the field. Marshall found Brandon Fulse for a three-yard touchdown to tie the game late in the first.

But when the second quarter came rolling around, the defenses subsided and the shootout was on.

Both offenses were incredibly potent in the second quarter, with Thompson throwing two touchdown passes for South Carolina and Auburn running it into the end zone twice. The Gamecocks briefly held leads of 14-7 and 21-14, but the Tigers quickly answered each time.

That left it a 21-21 game at halftime—but as AL.com's Brandon Marcello notes, Auburn had no trouble dominating the second half in a similar situation earlier this year:

Auburn looked intent on repeating that result coming out for the second half. The Tigers stormed down the field on a 13-play, 88-yard drive as Marshall walked in from four yards out to give Auburn a 28-21 lead.

With South Carolina trailing for the first time, Thompson continued slinging. He went long to Pharoh Cooper, who grabbed a 51-yard touchdown pass to tie it up again at 28-all.

Brynn Anderson/Associated Press

After holding the ball for over five minutes the last time out, Auburn didn't feel like waiting to get the lead back. Receiver Ricardo Louis went 75 yards on a touchdown run on the opening play of the next drive to take the lead back.

A lot of different words could be attributed to the offensive slugfest, but SB Nation's Spencer Hall described it accordingly:

Louis' rushing day had Opelika-Auburn News' Alex Byington impressed with how Auburn was spreading the ball around:

But nothing Auburn's offense did could thwart what Thompson had going in his own offense. He got the ball back and went 11 plays in over five minutes, tying the game late in the third quarter at 35-35.

Then, Steve Spurrier pulled a trick out of the bag, per Auburn Plainsman's Eric Wallace:

Auburn hadn't been able to stop South Carolina all half and most of the game, but it stood tall when it mattered most.

On a short field, the Tigers forced a big-time stop as Jonathan Jones picked off Thompson for his second interception of the game, per CBS Sports' Eye on College Football:

For those who watched the ebbs and flows of this game, and know of Auburn's offensive potency, you can guess what happened next. Marshall mixed the run and the pass to sprint down the field, and ran it in on his own to give Auburn a 42-35 lead.

That rush moved him up on Auburn's all-time ranks, per the team's official Twitter feed:

South Carolina proved with the earlier onside kick that it didn't trust putting the defense back out there, and that showed again late. The Gamecocks converted a 4th-and-8 in their own territory before turning it over on downs in the red zone. 

Auburn gave the ball back to South Carolina with another chance to tie things up, but it wasn't until the Tigers ran more time off the clock. With only 1:08 to operate, Thompson moved his team into Auburn territory before throwing his third pick of the game to seal the deal.

This shootout of a game wasn't for defensive traditionalists, but as Saturday Down South noted, fans could simply flip to another SEC game to see the conference's balance:

A second straight loss would've been the last thing Auburn needed after falling to Mississippi State its last time out, but perhaps Saturday's result could prove beneficial. It wasn't easy by any means, but Auburn showed its grit and resiliency by constantly answering the bell on offense when the defense folded.

However, there's plenty to be made of Thompson's 400-plus-yard day against an Auburn secondary that gave up at least 35 points for the second straight contest. Traveling to face Ole Miss—who will be hungry for another statement win after falling to LSU—could expose those problems even more.

South Carolina falls to a paltry 2-4 in SEC play with the defeat, all but squashing its already remote chances of winning the SEC East. Now, the Gamecocks need to win two of four to close the season just to make a bowl.