Â鶹´«Ã½¹ÙÍø

Beamer Ball, of all things, was what did the Hokies in.

Vicari Swain weaved his way through tacklers and scored on an 80-yard punt return early in the fourth quarter. The sudden score was the momentum kicker needed for the 13th-ranked Gamecocks to pull away and secure a 24-11 win over the Hokies in the Aflac Kickoff Game before an announced crowd of 55,531 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

Swain’s game-altering play came after the Hokies were called for illegal formation on Nick Veltsistas’ punt that went out of bounds at the South Carolina 26-yard line.

Gamecocks coach Shane Beamer elected to have Tech attempt the punt again. It paid dividends as Swain caught the punt, made a couple of Tech players miss initial tackles and then weaved through defenders to finish the lengthy punt return for a 17-8 lead.

The special teams swing, made famous by Frank Beamer during his illustrious coaching career at Virginia Tech, was the momentum and separation that the Gamecocks (1-0) needed as they finally found a crack in a Tech defense that was stellar for most of the season opener.

The Hokies constantly harassed USC quarterback LaNorris Sellers and made it difficult for the Gamecocks to pick up yards after an initial scoring drive.

Sellers elected to take a shot play midway through the fourth quarter and it paid off. Wide receiver Nyck Harbor got behind cornerback Caleb Brown and cruised for a 64-yard receiving touchdown that put the Gamecocks ahead 24-11.

The 13-point advantage was more than enough against a Tech offense that failed to score a touchdown after reaching the red zone twice.

The Hokies (0-1) received a valiant effort from the defense. The unit allowed an easy touchdown to open the game and then rallied to limit the Gamecocks to three points until Swain’s punt return touchdown.

That stretch included the Gamecocks’ final drive of the third quarter when Jaden Keller and Emmett Laws combined for one sack and Ben Bell and Kemari Copeland shared the credit on another.

Tech, which entered the third quarter facing a two-point deficit, opened the fourth quarter with a two-point deficit.

USC made its opening drive look easy. Five plays, four first downs and a little less than three minutes were needed to cover 75 yards and take a 7-0 lead on Sellers’ 15-yard touchdown run.

It wasn’t easy for the Gamecocks the rest of the first half.

Hokies defensive coordinator Sam Siefkes adjusted his scheme throughout the half to make it difficult for Sellers and the USC offense to get into a rhythm.

The Gamecocks had 110 yards of offense and five first downs on 26 plays over their next five drives and led 10-8 at halftime.

Virginia Tech recorded a safety and forced back-to-back three-and-outs to trim the deficit to 7-5 early in the second quarter on John Love’s 29-yard field goal.

The Hokies were in position to make another stop after Elhadj Fall forced Sellers to fumble the ball on a sack that led to a second-and-33.

Rahsul Faison had other plans by ripping off a 30-yard run to get the Gamecocks back into Tech territory, and USC appeared to score their second touchdown of the game on Harbor’s 9-yard touchdown catch.

The Big 12 Conference officiating crew ruled that Hokies safety Tyson Flowers knocked the ball free of Harbor’s grasp and overturned the call to an incomplete pass.

William Joyce’s 27-yard field goal put USC ahead 10-5, and the Hokies cut into the deficit on Love’s 56-yard field goal as the half concluded.

The Hokies recorded a safety two plays after Kyron Drones forced a throw into the end zone that was intercepted by Fred Johnson.

Johnson was tackled at the 2-yard line. Sellers was sacked by Kelvin Gilliam and Laws two plays later as Tech cut the deficit to 7-2.